The Men of Rangeman
by Proudofyoubabe
Summary: JE's never told us exactly what Rangeman does, so these are snippets, mostly from point of view of the men, that take us through the inner workings. We get a glimpse of the jealousies, the gossiping and acting out the men do while performing their jobs, as well as the crazy-scary stuff. This story begins with a five-year-old abduction case. An eventual Ranger and Steph HEA.
1. Chapter 1

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

_**Lester's POV**_

I was sitting in the break room with a few of the guys when the call came in. All I had to hear was the word 'bomber' and my ears perked up. It seemed like something happened while she was out picking up a skip. I listened more intently, already up from my chair and ready to race down the stairs to my car. Her one-week-old 2007 Honda CRV seemed to have gone off the grid. I hoped it was just more bad-car karma. Hal and Jamie, the new guy, had been on patrol when they heard the call come in over the police band. They rushed to the scene, calling Rangeman on the way. By the time they got there her car was unrecognizable, the victim of a bottle bomb, obviously meant for her. Thankfully she got out with just a few scrapes and scratches as she was thrown from the car trying to exit. I arrived as soon as I could, but Ranger beat me. I found her totally wrapped in his arms. I was about to leave them alone when she caught sight of me.

"Lester Santos, don't you dare leave," she said, seeing me turn to slip away.

"You're safe Beautiful. I don't need to hang around."

"Lester come here," she said disengaging herself from my boss and friend.

I looked at her inquisitively, but it was obvious that she was intent on giving me a hug for coming out to help her.

"Don't piss him off," I whispered into her ear. "I'll be the one paying."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll talk about it another time," I whispered again, breaking from the hug.

They had a curious relationship and I certainly didn't want to get in between the two of them. I also didn't need Ranger questioning my motives, which were sincere by the way. Yes she was beautiful. Yes I'd love to go out with her, but that's not why I was here. Stephanie was a good friend and to be honest, I didn't know whether or not Ranger was even going to show up and I didn't want to leave her stranded with no way to get home. As I said, they had a curious relationship.

I was just leaving when the beat-up car that Morelli drove while on stakeout for TPD showed up. I had heard that they had a kind of ugly breakup a few months earlier, but she never spoke about it to me…and I never asked. I hung around to see what was going to happen, since from what I had heard they weren't even on speaking terms right now.

"Cupcake, are you ok?" he called out from across the street and began walking towards her briskly.

She looked up from her tucked-in position between Ranger's arms.

"You didn't have to come out, I'm ok."

"I can see that now, but the call that came in sounded bad. I won the case so I'll need to talk to you about this soon. Call me when you're ready, but don't wait too long."

She nodded to him and re-tucked herself back into Ranger's chest. He whispered something to her and she nodded. I guessed that was all she was capable of doing right now. I wasn't hanging around to spy on them; I just wanted to make sure Morelli got into his car and took off. Unfortunately, he got back in his car and sat there watching them. Not a good strategy.

I was about to go over and tell him to move on, when Steph and Ranger broke apart and he took her by the hand and led her over to his turbo. It looked like they were leaving. He turned around and saw I was still there.

"Santos if you plan on staying here, make yourself useful and help Junior and Slick dispose of Steph's car."

I nodded at him. Guessed it was catching.

_**Bobby's POV**_

I had heard the call come in, so I was pretty much expecting someone to bring Steph to me to check her over for signs of internal trauma. Ranger hadn't been in the building all day but I saw Santos leave in a hurry right after we heard the news.

With that going on in the back of my head I readied my sick bay. I was not at all surprised when my phone rang and it was Ranger. He asked me to meet him and Steph in the infirmary.

I'd never question their relationship, or whatever you'd want to call it. Oh course we all considered her his woman, but from my perspective it was nothing like that at all. I could see they each cared deeply for the other, but they were both so stubborn. He to admit that his mumbo jumbo about relationships was shot to shit and hers stemmed from her not wanting to get hurt again. I can't blame _her_, but Ranger needed to get his head out of his ass once and for all. Every time she went back to the cop we all suffered. Don't let his caring side and good looks fool you, he can be a nasty son of a bitch. So with this in mind I was prepared for anything.

I had just pulled a fresh sheet of paper down on the examination table when Ranger knocked on the door and he and Steph walked in.

"Babe, you were thrown from the car. I'd like Bobby to look at your wounds and check to make sure you have no internal bleeding. I can leave if you want."

"Stay. Please."

I gave Stephanie a gown to slip into while Ranger and I stepped out. When she called to us that she was ready we came back in and she was lying on my table. I checked her scrapes and scratches first and noticed a hematoma developing under the bruise on her wrist. I pointed this out to Ranger while I palpated her arms, legs and trunk looking for other signs of internal trauma. I noticed she had her eyes closed while I checked her out. I wasn't the boogie man, but I guessed her dislike of doctors and the medical profession even stretched to me.

She had another huge hematoma on her hip. It was already starting to swell and I knew it had to hurt as I ran my fingers over the area to determine how large it was.

"Ok, nothing broken," I said to relieve some of the tension, "but you do have a few very larger areas of black and blue and swelling. I'm sure they'll bother you for the next week or so. There's nothing I can give you for them, so you'll just have to let them heal and take Tylenol if you're really uncomfortable. The one on your hip is quite big, so it may be hard putting jeans on. You might want to wear a dress for the next few days."

I saw her nod in agreement and open her eyes.

"Can I get dressed now?"

"We'll step outside. Take your time."

I was hoping Ranger was going to share with me what his intentions were, but when nothing was forthcoming I decided to butt in.

"I can't tell if she's hit her head or not, there's nothing obvious, but she does seem a little shaken up. I'd suggest someone watch her closely for the next twenty-four hours. I guess Santos, Hector and I can take turns. There's an open apartment on our floor."

"No," Ranger growled. "That's not necessary. She can stay with me."

"Try convincing her of that," I said under my breath and stepped away before I lost it.

"Brown. What the fuck is up with you?" he asked, turning around to face me.

"Sorry Boss, I guess I get a little emotional when it comes to Steph almost getting killed again. I wonder how much longer even _you_ can take it? I know I'm reaching the end of _my_ rope now."

"So what would you like me to do?"

Shit. I wasn't expecting this. "Be honest," I said.

"You know I can't commit fully. Is that what you're asking me to do?"

"I don't know what I'm asking Boss. But you know what they say, 'either shit or get off the pot.'"

He turned away from me and went back into my room. I didn't follow.

Hector's technology lab is next to my infirmary, so when I saw him sitting inside staring at his computer screen, I knocked and walked in.

"Amigo, what brings you here?" he asked skeptically.

"Steph had another mishap; she's in my infirmary with Ranger. I needed to step away," I told him honestly.

"What happened? Is she ok?"

I gave him a brief description of what I knew. Bottle bomb. Cuts and contusions. Possible concussion.

"This is about the _third_ possible concussion she's had in maybe the last seven-months. That can't be good."

"No shit."

"I could use a little help with these apps I'm developing for us. Do you think she might be interested in working with me?" Hector asked out of the blue.

"I think you have the wrong person. She's about as un-technical as you can get. I bet her grandmother knows more about apps for iPhones and iPads than she does."

"Then she'd be perfect. They need to be dumb simple. And I could use someone to play with them and make sure they work they way I want them to. You know…test them before I hand them out to the team."

"She probably can do that. Why don't you ask her? Although to keep her from chasing skips, she's going to need a bigger carrot than that."

"A title? Maybe assistant technical director?"

"She'll feel like we're creating a job for her and that would just piss her off. But I'm pretty sure she'll test stuff for you if you ask…and promise to pay her."

"I don't think that will get her off the streets, she'll want to do both."

I noticed Hector's eyes go from me to outside his office. I assumed someone walked by, so I mouthed, 'Stephanie?' Hector nodded then started whining out loud about needing an assistant. I guessed he wanted Steph to hear.

I turned from him and walked towards his office door to see where she was. I noticed Ranger was holding her close and they were standing at the elevator. My inquisitiveness got the better of me; garage or penthouse, so I walked over to see which floor was pressed.

"Steph, are you ok?" I asked, walking towards them and noticing seven was lit up on the floor indicator.

"Hey Bobby. Thank you for taking care of me. I guess I'll be ok; right now I feel like my body got jumbled around with my bones."

"I hope you're staying put tonight. At least that would be my medical advice, but hey, when has Ranger ever done what I suggested."

"Ranger invited me up for one of Ella's fabulous dinners. Then I guess he's taking me home. We didn't get that far."

"Not my business," I added, "but I'd suggest staying at Rangeman. I can't be sure that you didn't hit your head and I'd hate for anything to happen to you if you were by yourself. There's an open apartment on four, right next to Lester. We can come and check on you every hour or so."

"Brown," Ranger snarled at me, "You are overstepping your boundaries. You can shut up now or meet me on the mats at 0500."

"When it comes to things medical, I have the last say here," I said, getting testy with him. "You want to meet me on the mats? Fine, but I'm trying to keep Stephanie's best interests at heart and I think her staying in this building with people who will watch over her for the next twelve hours is what's best for her right now. You can call a tribunal if you doubt my professional opinion," I said and walked away.

"Ranger?" I heard Step's voice raise in question as I left them.

"We can talk about it upstairs, right now let's get that beast fed. I bet you haven't had anything since this morning."

That was another thing I'd like to work on. I had a feeling things were slow at the Bond's office and she was barely scraping by…and obviously food wasn't high on her list of priorities.

_**Hector's POV**_

Bobby left my lab and headed in the same direction that Steph and Ranger did—towards the elevator. He seemed to be asking for it by contradicting and egging Ranger on.

I hoped he knew what he was doing. Rangeman didn't need a medic walking around in a cast.

I had hopes that my offering of a job would get Steph off the streets. Well at least long enough for her wounds to heal and perhaps for her to have a change of heart about working for her fucked up cousin. I never understood how he could stand back and let her get trashed day after day.

Anyway I was sitting at my desk thinking about this when one of my cell phones buzzed. I knew by the buzz it wasn't my Rangeman phone, so I pulled it out of my pocket and answered with as much attitude as one word could portray.

"Yo."

"It's Ranger."

"Why you calling me on this phone?"

"I have something I want to ask you and I didn't want the call monitored."

"What's up?"

"How are those tracking apps coming along?"

"They haven't been field-tested yet, well by anyone other than me. You asked for them to be dumb-simple and I think they still may be too complex. Why?"

"I was hoping to let Rangeman Miami play with them. I want to head down there for a week or two to check on things. Feel like getting out of Trenton?"

"I think the person who needs to get out of Trenton is Stephanie."

"I was going to ask her too. Silvio could use a little help right now."

"Not that it's any of my business, but why does it always have to be about work? Can't you invite her down to relax for a week or so. Bobby thinks she may have a concussion."

"I heard him," he grumbled. "I was planning on leaving Wednesday morning. I'll let Tank know and I'll book a corporate flight for say 10 am? Meet me at Trenton Mercer."

"Confidential?"

"I don't want the men to know I'm using Miami to field-test something before them, so the trip isn't confidential, but the reason for it is. Tank agrees with the plan."

Ranger's never asked me to travel with him before. Obvious to me there was something else going on down there that required skills only I possessed so I agreed to the trip. I assumed the app stuff was bullshit and he'd brief me on the plane.

And as Ranger said the trip wasn't confidential, once I hung up with him I called Bobby to let him know most of what I knew. I left out the app-testing bullshit thing.

"Yeah I overheard him talking to Tank about Miami," Bobby said once I filled him in. "I understand that Rangeman is doing some work for the state and whoever it is that we are being asked to apprehend is believed to be in the Miami area. I think Ranger was at the Governor's mansion all day today. Lester never even expected him to show up when we got the call about Steph."

"Governor's mansion? In Princeton and he made it to the site before Lester?"

"Don't ask."

"I wish I knew what was going on with those two. I told him I thought Stephanie needed a vacation and he said he's going to ask her to come down to Miami with us to _work_. He said Silvio needs some help. That's pretty fucked up if you ask me."

"He's a very intense man. It's all about work," Bobby said in a way that sounded to me like he was sticking up for him. Strange after the way he just tore him a new one.

"Yeah, but I see the way he looks at her. There's something else going on."

"Well he's had us all believing she's his woman for years, but when I've quizzed her, she just laughs. And she keeps going back to Morelli, so he can't be the Don Juan we all imagine him to be."

"I don't think they're sleeping together. She's probably afraid of being hurt. And Connie told Lester that her and Morelli had a big blow out on the street a few months ago and aren't even speaking. Maybe what Steph and Ranger need is a couple of weeks together in Miami to get things heated up. I plan to give them a lot of alone time."

"Hector you are evil."

"That's what they tell me."

_**Slick's POV**_

Ranger called me from the street. The reception was bad but I heard enough to piece together that another one of Steph's cars bit the dust and he wanted Junior and I to pick up the pieces and dispose of them. No problem if I knew where this car of hers was. I wasn't going to call him back and ask, he's been in some fucking lousy mood lately and I didn't feel like getting the shit beat out of me for questioning him. So I called Manny who I knew was on monitor duty to see where her trackers were last spotted.

"Pennington and Calhoun," he told me. "Morelli's trackers say he's still at the scene so tread lightly. We don't need a war with TPD right now."

"Is Ranger in the area?" I asked not wanting to have an internal war either.

"Negative, he and Steph just arrived at Rangeman."

Fuck. Now I'd have to tread lightly around my own apartment if getting rid of this car posed any problems with the Trenton police force. Well, namely Morelli. He and I had butted heads before and he wasn't one of my fans...not that I had too many in Trenton anyway.

I turned the car around and headed back to Rangeman to pick up the flatbed. From there Junior and I made our way down Pennington towards Calhoun keeping our eyes open for cops. Disposing of evidence wasn't exactly legal.

While we were en route, Manny called to let us know that Morelli's tracker said he and his car left the site. He assumed Morelli was heading back towards the station, so I steered clear of any direct routes he could take to get there. I wasn't up for passing him on the street with a flatbed and getting flagged down. It was too early in the week for that shit.

When we arrived at the site by a round about way I saw the remains of her SUV. It looked like a pile of scrap metal. Thankfully it wasn't a very big bomb and pieces of her car weren't strewn for miles. We only had maybe a fifteen square foot radius to contend with. We got the pieces onto the flat bed and headed over to Rosolli's junk yard to dump it.

Manny Rosolli was waiting for us when we got there. I guessed he got word that Junior and I were coming by.

After we dumped our 'cargo' we headed back to Rangeman. Our shift was over a couple of hours ago and we were both happy to have clocked some overtime hours. I was looking forward to that imported stout in my refrigerator when the phone rang.

"Slick? Ranger. Can you meet me in the large conference room on two tomorrow morning at ten? I have an assignment for you."

"Of course Boss. Anything I need to read beforehand?"

"No. Tank and I will have briefing documents for you at the meeting. Keep this to yourself." And he disconnected.

Ok, I'll be honest, I was a little worried. I wasn't usually on the first line of defense here. That distinction usually went to the guys of the core team. I hoped this wasn't a lose/lose assignment.

I made myself some dinner and had one of the stouts with it while I read my mail and caught up on my email. I'm not a TV person, but I do like Bates Motel, so after I cleaned up I sat down in front of the TV to watch the last couple of episodes that I DVR'd.

Right in the middle of the 2nd one my cell phone rang. It was Stephanie. She was calling to thank me for disposing of her car.

"Oh, you're welcome. It was no big deal but we had to drive around for a while before we could get to it. TPD seemed to be staked out by your car. I think they were waiting for us."

"Morelli?"

"Yeah. I hope he hasn't been bothering you. Hal said he won the case. If you need us to tell him to take a hike, just let me know."

"Nope," she said popping the 'p' like a little kid. "Not bothering me...well not yet anyway."

"Where are you?" I asked her, hoping she wasn't running around with a head injury.

"I'm safe," she said. "I'm upstairs with Ranger. Ella brought us dinner and Ranger just told me that you and Junior picked up my car, so I wanted to thank you. I'm going to call Junior next."

Don't ever let anyone tell you that Steph isn't a good soul. I'm sure none of us would have thought twice about getting her car off the street and I certainly wasn't expecting a thank you. But something as simple as a phone call from her made me feel like a million bucks. Ranger was a lucky guy. Well at least on the surface. I had heard the rumors that they weren't sleeping together. I wasn't sure whether to believe them or not and if I believed them I'd have to think one or both of them were crazy. She's a beautiful woman with a lot of personality and he's...well, let's just say he's a pretty decent male specimen. His personality leaves a lot to be desired. Yeah, come to think of it I could see her not wanting to sleep with him.

I went to bed with a smile on my face. Maybe my life wasn't perfect, but it sure seemed that life wasn't perfect for Carlos Manoso either.

I woke to my alarm at 4:30 and hit the gym right away. Ranger was already on the treadmill when I got down there. I nodded a greeting to him and hit the weights first. I didn't have a spotter, but I was used to doing this on my own. After a few minutes Ranger came over.

"Trying to kill yourself Slick?"

"I do this all the time. I'm ok."

"When those 250 pounds come crashing down on your trachea you won't be so smug," he said picking up the bar to hand to me once I was in position. Jeez I hated being in his debt like this.

Once I was done with my lifting, I reciprocated and spotted for Ranger. Then I hit the treadmill while he went off to shower and do whatever it was he did at 6 am. He called to me from the door to the gym as he was leaving.

"See you at ten."

I nodded that I'd be there and upped my speed.

I was a few minutes early to the 10 am. I opened the conference room door and was surprised to find Hector, Junior and Tank sitting around the table. There was coffee, croissants and pastry on the sideboard and Tank nodded to me to help myself. This was quite unusual for a Rangeman briefing.

I was adding milk to my coffee when the door opened and Ranger and Stephanie walked in. I saw Stephanie's eyes light up at the pastries and she immediately walked over to them. She nodded hello to me but seemed to be drawn to the sugar. Nothing and no one else mattered.

Once she had her plate full, she took some coffee, added milk and sugar to it, and sat down at the conference room table next to Ranger. I heard her lean in and thank him.

"Only the best for you Babe," he muttered, pulling her close and kissing her on the top of her head.

Now I knew why we were getting special treatment.

He gave us a few minutes to eat and talk amongst ourselves before calling the meeting to order.

"It looks like everyone who needs to be here, is here. So let's get started," he said.

"Rangeman picked up a new assignment yesterday. One that's very important to Governor Christie. Tank has briefing packets for all of you, so why don't you look them over before I go on."

I opened the manilla folder in front on me and started to read. My mouth dropped before I got to the second paragraph. The case was from 2008, so it was five years old but still active.

Darcy McCall was ten years old when she was abducted from her mother's house in Elizabeth, by a man only described as a very tall, thin Hispanic man. If eyewitnesses were correct, this man was a monster at six foot eight or nine.

Five years ago. Hmmm. That would make her fifteen now. Without any recent photos she would be hard to find. I guessed the look on my face said it all as Ranger once again took control of the room.

"The governor's office may have a lead on the giant who took her. They got a call over the weekend from a woman in Tamiami, Florida who said an overly tall Hispanic man and a white teenage girl tried to rent an apartment from her. She remembered the news story as she was living in New Jersey at the time and called 911. We have been asked by Governor Christie to take the lead in this investigation because we are not a state, local or federal agency. He has deputized us just for legality sake, but we will be operating as Rangeman Miami. Steph and I will stay in my apartment at the Miami office and we have secured small apartments in between the Miami and Tamiami areas for the rest of you.

"We've been asked to bring them both back alive. I have a picture that was taken of Darcy right before her abduction. Hector can you do some magic with it and age her to fifteen?"

"I can try. There's a program the FBI have that I'm pretty sure I can get my hands on. Aging children isn't easy, they usually change too much during those early teenage years, but I'll do my best."


	2. Chapter 2

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

_Chapter 2_

_**Junior's POV**_

At least now I knew what was going on, although I didn't see how _I_ fit in. I wasn't known for my ability to find people. In fact, quite the opposite. I'd say my strengths lay in my ability to blend in and watch. I was one of the best surveillance guys Rangeman had. I could tune out the outside world and just concentrate on the job at hand. Ten hours in a car didn't phase me.

I have to say I was surprised when I walked into the conference room and found Hector sitting there. I was even more surprised when Slick walked in. I guessed Ranger told him the same thing he told me, to keep it quiet, or he would have called me last night to find out what I knew.

The Spanish guys at Rangeman were tight. Manny, Hector, Lester (well, sometimes), Caesar, Chester Rodriguez, Miguel, Sybo, Raphael, Ramon, Erik and Gomez.

If one of them knew something, they all knew something. Since Slick and I were both half black, half Puerto Rican we were accepted by just about every clique at Rangeman and the fact that we spoke Spanish as well as any of the Latinos didn't hurt. After the meeting I tooled that acceptance and called Hector directly.

"Qué pasa bro," Hector answered.

"¿Sabía usted acerca de esto?"

I asked him if he knew about this and he told me about his conversation with Ranger the night before. We both agreed that field-testing the apps was a bunch of bullshit, but we still had no idea what we'd be doing in Miami. Well, other than searching for a missing teenager and this monster of a man who took her. We assumed we'd find out on the plane or once we got down there.

I had two days to get my life in order before we left for Miami. Not that I had a lot of people to call or a lot to do, but still I owed it to my mother to let her know I would be out of Jersey for a few weeks at least.

Rangeman is good like that when they put you on a long-term assignment; they give you a few days off to organize your life. Well since I had nothing to do until Wednesday at ten except make one phone call, I went down to the gym for my second workout of the day. It was almost no surprise to find Slick doing the same thing.

"Are you trying to get your head on straight too?" I asked, seeing him running about a seven-minute mile.

He barely huffed as he answered, "Something feels off. I'm trying to work it out in my head. What did you think?"

"I called Hector. He's even stumped. I guess we'll all find out on Wednesday."

"I'm going to look for Stephanie when I'm done here. I know you think she doesn't know any more than we do, but he said she's staying in his apartment in Miami with him. That has to account for something."

"Yeah, he's fucking her."

"Not what I hear. Although I'm sure if one of us tried to ask her out, we'd be shipped off to the Pine Barrens, never to be seen again."

"I'm pretty sure she went out to dinner with Lester when Ranger was off on that last mission and he's still around," I told him honestly, since I overheard them talking and saw them leave together in Santos' vintage Mustang.

"I think he just wanted to make sure she was fed. I don't think she's bringing in much money from the Bonds office."

"So then this is a calculated move on Ranger's part," I said slightly pissed off that he'd bring his woman in on a job just to pay her. Rangeman pays well, especially when we go off on assignment. So a few weeks away from here will put some money into her bank account.

"I agree there, but I like Stephanie...she's smart. And I still think she knows more than we do," he said adamantly.

I looked up to see Cal come into the gym for his regular noontime 'beat the shit out of the equipment' regiment. I didn't want to say anything that might be overheard and I certainly didn't want to contradict Slick right now, but in my gut I knew she was just as stumped as the rest of us. And why _us_?

I wasn't sure how long Slick had been down there, but he started his cool down as I started my run. Once he left the gym Cal came over and got on the treadmill next to me.

"I hear you, Slick and Hector won the Miami shit show. What's that all about?"

"Wish I knew. Ranger said the Governor gave us a job to find an abducted teenager who was recently seen in the Miami area. I can see Rangeman getting the gig, but why the three of _us_?"

"You'll blend in well and you speak Spanish so you'll pick up on anything spoken in either language."

"So can Lester, so can Bobby and so can Tank for that matter. Why _us_?"

"I'm sure Ranger's thought it through. It's an honor so just accept it."

"Slick thinks Steph knows more than she's letting on. He's off to find her."

"I just saw her at the elevator. Looked like she was heading back up to Ranger's, probably for lunch. Manny said she's being watched in case she's got another concussion."

I jumped to the sides of the treadmill, powered it down and glared at him. How the hell did he know that?

"Manny was on monitor duty yesterday afternoon, he saw them come in and go straight to Bobby's."

I wasn't going to believe anything the guys said, so I did what any other red-blooded Jersey boy would do, I picked up my phone. I had Steph's number in my Rangeman contact list so I just punched in her name.

"Junior?" she answered after just one ring. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see if you were ok. Bobby mentioned that you may have a concussion," I lied, as it wasn't Bobby who told me.

"Yeah, that's what he seems to be all kinds of nervous about. I don't remember hitting my head, so I think I'm ok. He and Ranger are acting like a bunch of old ladies. Ok Junior what's _really_ up?" she said after a pause, "Slick just called me too."

Somehow for once in my life I felt like honesty was the best policy when it came to dealing with a woman, so I told her our concerns.

"Meet me at the cubicle I use to run searches in about a half an hour and tell Slick to come too. I don't know anymore than either of you do, but before the day is out, I'm pretty sure the three of us will know as much as Ranger and Tank do. Do _not_ underestimate the information those programs can give us."

I hung up with her and called Slick. I told him about my conversation with Steph

and that we'd meet at her cubicle in a half an hour. I was about to give him shit for not getting the response from her that I did, when he interrupted me.

"Do you think that's a good idea? We'll be sitting ducks. Ranger and Tank both have offices a stone's throw away from her cube. They'll come back from wherever the hell they are and see us sitting with Steph. Do you know what that's going to look like?"

"Yeah, it's going to look like what it is: the two of us sitting around while she pulls up additional information. It says we don't trust what we were given and since it's Stephanie, it says Ranger will be beyond pissed. Any ideas?"

"Yeah, we get Hector involved. He can load those programs onto a laptop and we can do the search from my apartment. We're offline until Wednesday and if all I wanted to do was sleep for the next day and a half, no one would think anything of it."

"Yeah, well except for the fact that she comes equipped with trackers. You know that Slick. If Ranger can't find her he'll ask who's ever in the control room to pull up her coordinates. Your apartment will be raided by one very pissed-off Rangeman five seconds after that. Come up with something better."

"I still think we should involve Hector. He has access to all the technical shit and he's devious."

"Ok, call him. We have fifteen minutes."

_**Hector's POV**_

I was putting some finishing touches on the tracking apps I was supposedly bringing to Miami with me as some kind of cover when one of my personal phones buzzed. I looked at the read out and saw it was Slick so I answered.

He told me about Junior's conversation with Stephanie and I agreed with his take. Sitting in the open on five wasn't a good idea. Of course I had the perfect solution. I had already told Bobby that I wanted to use Steph to work out the kinks in my apps and I was pretty sure that information had been passed on to Ranger. If he pulled up her coordinates and she was in my lab, he'd probably just call her cell or mine. He wouldn't come looking for her. After all Steph was safe with me. I wasn't interested in her the way some of the guys here were and Ranger knew my affiliation.

I told this to Slick and we agreed to meet in my technology lab in ten minutes. I called Steph and told her the same thing, leaving out the reasoning. I pulled down one of the more powerful laptops and loaded all of the search programs onto it while I waited for everyone to join me. And just as a cover for worst-case scenario, I pulled out four iPads and downloaded the new apps onto them. We could always pretend we were testing them as a group since our time was limited.

The ding of the laptop signaled that the programs were installed successfully. Thank God for once my rapid download worked without a glitch. I pulled the computer from its dock and had just restarted it when Steph walked in.

''I didn't know what you would need," she said coming in with two laptops, her personal one and the Rangeman-issued PC.

"I'm good, you can put those away. Neither of them have enough RAM to run these programs and I've already set up something for you. If you want to get started before Junior and Slick get here, be my guest," I said, handing her the laptop I just pulled from the dock.

"Thanks Hector. So why can't my laptops have these programs on them?"

It was a long technological answer that I didn't think she'd be able to understand no matter how much I simplified it, so I just said that they weren't powerful enough. I told her I'd swap the IP address of the Rangeman-issued one with this one and she could keep it if she wanted to carry around some search programs.

"But _my_ laptop is new? I just got it at the Apple store a couple of weeks ago?"

It was about the speed of the processor, the BUS speed, the motherboard and the amount of RAM installed, but I couldn't simplify that into layman's terms in English in two point three seconds so I just said the obvious. "It still isn't fast enough."

She just looked at me for a second, saw I was serious and let it drop. Thank God. My English wasn't good enough to get into a head to head with her on that one.

Slick and Junior knocked on my door together and I let them in. I closed the door behind them. It wasn't unusual that I sat behind a closed door. I needed quiet and darkness to do my best thinking and everyone knew it.

Stephanie had already entered in some search criteria into the laptop, but Slick and Junior seemed to have different criteria in mind, so I quickly pulled out another laptop, added a few gigs of RAM to it and used the rapid download that thankfully seemed to be glitch-free today to install the search programs we stole, or should I say 'borrowed' from the CIA.

I typed Slick's criteria into the field. It was an interesting one, he wanted to access the database on all Hispanic men over 6'5" with a criminal record. We let both machines run while I took a look at Steph's personal computer. I could turn this into a super computer for her in under ten minutes by swapping out the motherboard and installing another four gigs of RAM. I asked her if she wanted me to and she nodded yes. So all eyes were on me as I went to work on it. Thankfully I stock Mac as well as PC parts in my lab. I prefer Macs, but most of the existing programs were written for PCs. My knowledge of both let me tinker and put the best of both worlds into one machine. The warranty would be null and void, but with me around, she wouldn't need a warranty. I broke the seal and went to work.

About fifteen minutes later we had three computers up and running some very complex searches. Even the fastest of them would take about a half an hour to complete as we were accessing worldwide data banks.

Slick's dinged first. I guessed we had some matches to overly tall Hispanic men with criminal records. I watched him go over to it and hit the print button. He came back from the printer and sat reading with a scowl on his face. Obviously he didn't like what he saw.

"I seem to have hit the jackpot. Looks like your fucked up programs think I'm interested in dating tall men. I have a few pages of 'Single Latino men over 6'5"'. Hector want to take a look?"

"I'm not interested in any man taller than me and if they're interested in you Slick, they're not my type anyway," I said without missing a beat.

"Throw those away. And then what are you left with?" Steph cut in from across the room. "I always get stuff like that whenever I run a search."

"Um. A couple of New Jersey guys, three from New York, a guy from LA, and two each from Florida and Louisiana."

"That's only ten men total. We can look into all of them. Run each of their names into the search engine. It should only take a few minutes," she said, still intently watching the laptop with her search criteria entered into it.

Suddenly her's dinged too and she got all smiles.

"Guys, this is a search on all known Hispanic sex offenders registered before 2008 and I cross-referenced men over 6'3". Now if we merge/purge this list with Slick's it'll be interesting to see what we've come up with."

"Wait a minute," Junior said, "mine's still running. If we're purging anything, I don't want it to be mine."

"What was your criteria?" Slick asked.

"I went for the crazies. Anyone over six foot three spending time in a mental institution prior to 2008."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his computer dinged. We now had three viable searches to look at independently and then cross-reference one against the other. Hopefully we'd have a few solid leads after that.

We spent time going over each list on its own. Then we we ran one against the other and surprisingly came up with three names that were common to all three lists. One guy was in Jersey, one in upstate New York and one in the Miami area. All three could easily fit the bill.

Steph thought Ranger and Tank needed to see this so she sent a text to both of them. Within minutes the two big guys were taking up space in my small lab.

Ranger and Steph caught each other's eye and I couldn't help but watch the dynamic between the two of them. There was chemistry there. I guess you could call it sexual, but to me it just seemed magical.

Ranger was on best behavior and didn't interrupt when she told him and Tank what we'd come up with. She didn't make any excuses for going off on her own with this either. She handed him the list with their most recent addresses and phone numbers and she sat back to see just what he wanted to do.


	3. Chapter 3

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

The ones you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 3

_**Tank's POV**_

When I walked into Hector's lab and saw the four of them sitting around with laptops and iPads in front of them, I felt my anger rising. Who the fuck did they think they were taking matters into their own hands? Ranger hadn't told me why we were heading down to Hector's but Stephanie broke the ice before I had a chance to voice my displeasure.

"I'm sorry for dragging the both of you away from your work, but this is important. I asked Hector to load up the search programs on my laptops so I could bring one of them with me and we just got carried away with this assignment. I called Slick and Junior and asked them to come down to help, so if you want to get pissed at anyone, get pissed at me," she said before she told us anything else.

How was I going to get mad at that? It looked like she was taking her job seriously, so instead I asked her what the four of them came up with. She pulled a couple of pieces of paper from the printer behind her and gave one to me and one to Ranger.

I couldn't believe that sitting on the top of her list was Diego Santana; a name Governor Christie's team had come up with as a person of interest. It took Christie's team five years to come up with that name _and_ less than a day for one curly-haired brunette.

I looked over at Ranger, but he was staring at Bomber and I couldn't catch his eye. I didn't know which of us would speak first, but by the looks of it, it wouldn't be Ranger.

"How the hell…?" I said, not even having words to continue my train of thought.

"I just did what I always do, type in criteria from my point of view. I explained my process to Slick and Junior and they each wanted to try. So what we came up with were three lists. When we merged/purged them, these three names came to the top as common to all three lists. My suggestion is we look at these guys first. One lives in New Jersey and another in New York; we should be able to send a team to each of them from here. Unfortunately the third in is Miami, so I guess we'll have to make that trip after all," she said, matter-of-factly.

I guessed she couldn't tell by the look on both of our faces that her and the guys just did the impossible.

"Babe, can I see you upstairs?" Ranger finally put some words together to ask her.

"Um sure. I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"No. I'd just like to talk to you."

"Ok, upstairs where? Your office or seven?"

"How about we take this outside instead. Dinner?"

I heard a few deep intakes of breath. I couldn't help but think that half the staff was waiting for this moment. So what if it was a work pretense.

"Sure Batman, dinner it is."

Wished I could be a fly on the wall of wherever it was they were going. Not that I particularly cared to spy on Ranger's private life, but I'd love to hear what he had to say to her about her ability to not only come up with the impossible, but to share her concept on how to do it. Shit…I lie. If I had the slightest inkling to play matchmaker, I'd be all over the opportunity now.

I was still musing over things in my own head when I vaguely heard them set a time. He was going to pick her up at her apartment later. Sounded like a date to me.

Hector broke up our little impromptu party by announcing he had work to do before they left on Wednesday and wanted to get a few hours in tonight so hopefully he'd have all day tomorrow to take care of his personal life.

"I gave you time off," Ranger said, slamming on his 'I'm in control' face. "And time off means time off. There is nothing on your plate that someone else can't finish up in your absence. We will walk out of this office together and I expect to not see your face until we get on that plane Wednesday morning. Do you hear me?"

Everyone got quiet and just looked at him. There was no telling what he might do if anyone talked back to him when he got like this. He turned to look from Steph to Slick and then over to Junior.

"That goes for the three of you too. Babe, I'll pick you up at seven."

_**Chet's POV**_

I was on my way to Hector's lab to pick up a replacement iPad. He had promised me he'd install our Rangeman-required apps on it and have it waiting for me when my shift ended. I heard noises coming from the direction of what I assumed to be Bobby's infirmary so I walked slowly to possibly catch the drift of what was going on.

When I realized that the voices were coming from Hector's lab instead, I almost turned back. After all Hector was doing me a solid by replacing the iPad my niece threw from her highchair when she was playing with it. Yeah, my sister's kitchen floor is tile and the screen shattered into a million slivers. Rangeman protocol says that's considered my fault so I was responsible for replacing it. Thankfully Hector doesn't always follow protocol; I really didn't have the extra thousand this month for the 128-gigabyte version we use.

I overheard Ranger's voice and decided being seen here right now wasn't a good idea after all, but as I tried to sneak away the six voices I heard stepped into the hallway. Shit, I was busted. Thank God Bobby's door was open, so I quietly stepped inside to let them pass.

Ranger's voice was harsh, bordering on mean when he spoke to Hector; so I was quite surprised that in the next second it turned soft to address Bomber. I didn't think many would have picked up on that, but since voice-recognition was what I was trained to do, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Ranger really _did _have a soft spot for her. Could have fooled me that he'd have a soft spot for anybody. But what surprised me more was what he _actually_ said to her; that he was picking her up at seven. I knew there were no distractions being run this evening so I let my mind wander to the possibilities. I'd ask Hector about that later.

Once they left Hector's lab as a group, I emerged from Bobby's space. They went left, so I went right and took the stairs up to five. I saw them get off the elevator and caught Hector's eye. He gave me one of the gang signs that meant 'come to my crib', and I nodded so he would know that I'd be there later.

I let at least an hour pass before I knocked on Hector's door. He was alone with his laptops and iPads. It looked like he had as many in his apartment as he did in his lab.

"Chet," he said, acknowledging my presence and ushering me in, "sorry about earlier, I'm part of the Miami crap shoot and we had an impromptu meeting. I have your iPad downstairs but if Ranger decides to check the tapes, he'll give me shit for going back to work. Here's the key to my office; your iPad is the one in the lone cube above my desk. Pick it up and come back here and I'll show you what I installed."

"I'll be on tape."

"It's ok, I wrote in the log that you'd be one of the men covering for me. It will look like we spoke and I asked you to gather some resources. I do want you to cover for me, by the way."

"I hope it's only to dole out iPads and laptops. My knowledge of anything else is nowhere near as extensive as yours. I'd be screwed if Tank asked me how many gigs we need to run something."

"Just say six. It's the free space I allow _all_ programs."

I chuckled at that, now I had some inside information that would make me sound geeky. The idea of me and geeky were so far removed from one another that I had to do more than chuckle. I let out a laugh and then apologized for my outburst.

"Sorry man. The picture I saw in my head of me doling out iPads was just so strange. My hands are almost as big as they are and the thought of a guy like me playing technoid made me laugh."

"Glad you find it funny. A little knowledge may save your life one of these days."

I went back down to his cave and brought up the iPad. When I knocked on his door he was on one of his cells speaking away in Spanish. He ushered me in and went to the bathroom to continue his call. This wasn't unusual behavior for Hector who always seemed to have a lot going on. And the scary thing was, he was good at all of it.

"Sorry man," he said when he came back, "I was supposed to be helping Lester out with a takedown tomorrow and I set up a meeting with an informant in Newark tonight. Since Ranger has me on forced retirement until I get back from Florida, I had to turn the reigns over to Erik who's on his way up here. Let me show you what I installed in the meantime."

He took me through updated versions of the Rangeman apps we run all the time. Then he showed me a couple of new things he'd created that weren't yet for the general public here. The man was a freakin' genius.

_**Erik's POV**_

I just had a very scary conversation with Hector. He knows all these people from his previous life and somehow still stays in touch with a number of them. We've _used_ them from time to time and Rangeman pays them well when they work on our side of the fence. Trouble is you never really know which side they are working on at the moment. Looked like tonight was going to be one of those times. Hector had set up a meeting with himself, Lester and a man called 'Sturgeon'. We needed information to take down Javier Iglesias, an ex-professional boxer turned child pornographer. He was wanted on at least six counts of child abduction and molestation. He usually lured children into abandoned apartments for lewd photo sessions. He'd use them for whatever he was lusting after at the moment and then sell the pictures to the highest bidder online. He was a sick individual and Sturgeon had some new info on where to find him tomorrow.

Trouble was Hector was forbidden from accompanying Lester to the meet up and I got roped into it. Fucking Ranger and his 'rules'. I wasn't as adept in the bowels of Newark as Hector was and I didn't want to blow this, so Hector and I were meeting so he could fill me in on some things I needed to know if we were going to pull this off.

I microwaved up a Healthy Choice Pumpkin Squash ravioli thing and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. I knew Chet was downstairs with Hector right now and I wanted to give him some time to finish up before I barged in. Most people think this Healthy Choice shit isn't man food, but I gotta tell you, it sure satisfies me. I eat Ella's lunches and have one of these almost every night for dinner and I'm good.

I checked my personal email while I ate. After I washed off and disposed of the paper container in the recycling bin, I closed up my apartment and headed down to Hector.

"You're meeting Sturgeon outside of an abandoned elementary school," he told me when I asked about the meeting. "Lester knows how to get there. Sturgeon will be waiting for you by the graffiti tag 'Posse' that's on the east side of the building. Let him steer the conversation; if he feels you are asking for too much information, he'll take off. Lester's exchanged cash for info with him before; so just let Santos take the lead on that one. He won't frisk you, he trusts me, but your job is to hit the record button on your cell without letting on what you're doing. He speaks with a heavy accent, so you'll need that recording to interpret his words. I could do this alone but you know how Ranger is: a partner and a backup plan are not options. Any questions?"

I shook my head no and we parted with a thug hug.

I was meeting Lester in the garage at ten, so I went back up to my cubicle for a few hours to catch up on some paperwork. I saw Ranger in the hall and had to do a double take because of the way he was dressed. I mean dress slacks and a button down shirt? Black of course, but not his usual Rangeman attire. I thought maybe he was heading for an after-hours client meeting, but he seemed too happy.

I was about to make a comment, but he caught my eye and gave me a death glare. Guessed I wasn't making any snide remarks tonight.

I had started on the paperwork that was necessary whenever we took part in an apprehension and had completed a couple of pages when the image of Ranger in dress clothes popped into my head again. Normally I'm not nosy, but this was so out of character I thought a quick text might be in order. I knew someone had to know what that was all about.

Hector wasn't particularly a busybody, but I had heard that Slick, Junior and Steph had been holed up in his lab for a few hours today and that Ranger and Tank were called down, so I figured he might know something. I just texted him a short, 'What's up with Ranger? After hours client meeting?'

'No man. Date,' was texted back.

'Date? I've never known him to date?'

'He asked the chica to dinner.'

'The chica? As in _Bomber_?'

'Sí.'

'No wonder he was smiling. It's about time he made a move.'

'I have an opinion, but I'm not sharing yet.'

'What the fuck is that supposed to mean, you're not sharing? Why did you bring it up then?'

'Ok, pick up the phone and call me. Use my 237 number.'

Of course I called him back immediately. "You said you have an opinion. Care to share?"

"Erik, this is just between you and me. If this spreads around the building, I'm not going to be too happy with you."

"I know man. I'm not going to say anything. And I wouldn't normally give a shit but I just saw him all dressed up in the hall and he was smiling. That man doesn't smile."

"Ok, just between us. We all know that there's been an attraction there for a long time. I think it's more like an obsession…you've seen him throw men on her whenever she's got a stalker and you were around a few of the times she's gone missing and he'd called us all back on duty to help find her."

"Yeah, I went with you guys to the cranberry bog…"

"Ok, so you know what I mean. I think they've probably slept together once or twice and since he's so non-committal she probably ended it. I think he thought putting on his charms would convince her otherwise, but my feeling is that it hasn't worked the way he's wanted it to. I've been on monitor duty and saw more than my fair share of Ranger and Chica encounters. She was brilliant today getting information from a search and I think that turned him on. Looks like he's trying a new tact."

I chewed on that for about ten minutes while I dealt with my paperwork; it seemed to make the tedious task go faster. My phone rang a little after nine taking me out of my zone. It was Lester.

"Erik man, let's leave a little early. I'll pick you up in the garage at nine thirty. I want to scope out the area before we meet up with Sturgeon. Something feels a little off to me."

"Ok. I'll put my paperwork aside and head down now."

"Is Beautiful still at her cube? I called her home phone and her cell and she's not picking up either."

"It's ten after nine Santos. When have you known her to hang around if she wasn't in the middle of something?"

"I wanted to ask her to run a search on Sturgeon. I know Hector says he's trustworthy, but something about meeting at an abandoned public school is giving me the heebie jeebies. I've even asked Manny and Sybo to meet us there in a separate car in case we need reinforcements."

"You are creeped out man. Why don't you just ask Hector to run the search? I know he's pissed off that Ranger has him on mandatory rest. I think he'd be happy to have something to do."

"Sturgeon is his gangster bud, he's not going to be happy about researching him, that's why I was looking for Stephanie."

"I overheard something. I think she may be with Ranger. _I'll_ ask Hector to run the search. I'm not afraid of him."

"I'm not afraid of him you asshole. I just didn't think he'd feel comfortable doing it. I can call him."

With that he hung up. I assumed we were still on for nine thirty, so I closed down my computer and put away the forms I had sitting on my desk. Tomorrow was soon enough for this shit.

When I got down to the garage Lester was in the driver's seat of one of the Explorers and waiting for me by the elevator. He had a huge smile on his face.

"What's up with you man? Caught the Ranger disease?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Hector's running the search for us and he just let a little something slip when I told him I couldn't find Beautiful. He said Ranger and her were on a date."

"Yeah, that's what he told me too. How was he when you asked him to research Sturgeon?"

"He gave me one of his 'hard' looks, but then nodded and said he'd have something for us in about a half an hour. It'll take us around an hour to get to Newark so you can read the results to me and we can formulate a backup plan in the car if we have to. I want Manny and Sybo in on the research, so when you get the email from Hector, forward it to them."

Bossy tonight, aren't we?

I nodded yes and we took off. About forty minutes later my phone dinged that I had an email. We were pretty close to Newark at this point so Lester took the next exit so we could read the results while we still were out of Sturgeon's territory.

Instead of the four or five printed pages that would normally come up on a search there were just a few words:

'Call off the meeting. It's not safe. I have the info he was going to share with you, but it's a set up. Turn your asses around and meet me in my apartment.'

For once I was glad that Lester had the willies. I certainly didn't feel like getting shot at tonight. I called Manny and told him about the email and before we were back on the road, he and Sybo pulled in behind us.

I shared Hector's note with the guys while Lester texted Sturgeon that the deal was off. I didn't know what pissing off Sturgeon would do, but I was happy as hell when we were back in Trenton.


	4. Chapter 4

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 4

_**Ranger's POV**_

There is not much in this world that can shock the shit out of me. I've seen it all. Hell, I've done it all. But I was really at a loss for words when Stephanie showed me that piece of paper she pulled from the printer. It took Governor Christie's men five years to put the name of Diego Santana in front of him. How the hell did Stephanie Plum from the Chambersburg section of Trenton, pull that name out of a hat three times in one afternoon?

I was beyond impressed. I really wanted to pull her close and let her know just how proud of her I was feeling. But there was a problem with that response; I had four of my men standing around watching my every move.

"Babe, can I see you upstairs?" I finally asked, wanting to be alone with her.

"Um sure. I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"No. I'd just like to talk to you."

"Ok, upstairs where? Your office or seven?"

I thought about it for a minute. I was pretty sure no one had taken Stephanie out to dinner in a long time. Morelli never took her anywhere except for an occasional lunch at Pinos and I'd hardly call that a date.

"How about we take this outside instead. Dinner?"

I thought I heard noises from a couple of my men at my invitation; they'd hear from me later. Right now I was focused on what Stephanie had to say.

"Sure Batman, dinner it is."

"I'll pick you up at your apartment around seven. Will that give you enough time?" I asked, knowing how long it took her to get her hair under control.

"Seven is fine Batman."

Shit. I couldn't remember the last time I'd asked a woman out. It had to have been pre-Rachel when I was still a social person. Not that there haven't been women in my life, but they were mostly one night stands I'd met when I was away on business or alone at a bar. This was different. And this was Stephanie.

I went back upstairs to seven and took a couple of deep breaths before going into the shower to get ready. What was I doing? If I was beginning something, I better well think about where I was taking it.

Stephanie and I have had almost conversations about this before when I've fed her the bullshit I feed every woman; that my lifestyle doesn't lend itself to relationships. That may have been true up until this year when I had those government contracts hanging over my head, but I've been out of them for the last five months. I knew one date wasn't going to start church bells ringing in her head, so I just got myself ready. And somehow my mood changed, I actually felt at ease.

I dressed for the evening then called down to the desk to have whoever was manning reception make a reservation for me. I wasn't ready to start any 'Burg gossip so I asked Roy to call Málaga in Hamilton Township. The food was excellent there and it also had a small alcove in the back where we could be alone. I asked him to secure _that_ table.

My plan was to head back down to my office until it was time to leave. I always had a million things to do, so I hoped to kill about three or four of them. I passed Erik in the hall and before he had a chance to say anything I slammed on my adversarial face. The men knew when they could play around with me and when they couldn't. Tonight was _not_ one of those nights.

I was getting ready to call it quits and make my way over to Stephanie's when my desk phone rang. It was Hal. He was on monitor duty tonight and part of that job included answering Rangeman's phones when our reception desk closed at five.

"Ranger, there's a woman named Maya Laskey on the phone from the _Times of Trenton_. She wants to speak to you."

"About what?"

"She wants to do a story on Rangeman."

"We don't do stories."

"She's very persistent. She's called three times already."

"We are not a circus act. Tell her I'm busy."

"She said she's outside."

"Well then go outside and tell her in person. Take Santos with you, maybe you two can scare her away."

Jesus. What is it with the press? And why _us_? I didn't want to know how the guys were going to get rid of her; I just wanted her gone. I gave them five minutes before I headed down to my car.

I heard a commotion at the gate, so I stopped just shy of the entrance to listen to what was going on.

"Well how about _you_ then Mr. Santos? Will you conduct the interview with me? I've heard all about the hunks of Rangeman and you seem to fit the bill. I was hoping I could set up a photo shoot too…similar to those beefcake firefighter calendars. You guys, all shirtless and hot."

"Lady, I don't know where you got your information, but this isn't a strip club. We work for a security and protection company and we take our jobs seriously. Now please leave before I have to forcibly remove you."

"Oh please do."

"That's it Ms. Laskey. _Now_ or I'm calling your boss and the TPD. I will get a restraining order against you. You have five seconds. One. Two…."

I couldn't stop laughing. She actually got one over on Lester. I was hoping this was caught on tape. It would make great video for our next Christmas party.

Obviously she took the threat seriously and moved away from the gate. I took that as my cue to fob it open and head out. I never expected her to jump in front of the car. Jesus Christ. Thank God my reflexes are better than most. I stopped short, just inches from her. I got out of my car to make sure she was ok, and she stuck a business card in my pocket before she ran down the street.

Dios, Mother of God, women were going to be the death of me.

"You ok Boss?" Hal asked looking at me curiously.

I just shook my head and got back into the turbo. I was outside of Stephanie's apartment building ten minutes later. It was a little before seven, so I parked and took the business card out of my pocket. I looked at the name on the card: Maya Laskey, Features Editor, _The Times of Trenton_. Obviously she was for real. I shook my head and deposited it in my glove compartment.

I took my jacket from the passenger's seat and put it on before heading up to her apartment. I rang her bell this time and waited for her to let me in.

"Ranger," she said with a smile on her face. She looked beautiful in a fitted calf-length dress with a side slit. It showed off her perfect legs.

"Babe," I replied, pulling her to me and giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "You look stunning."

"Thank you Batman, um, where are we going? Am I dressed ok?"

"You're perfect. I made reservations for us at Málaga in Hamilton. Are you ready?"

"Just let me get my bag and say goodbye to Rex."

I had to smile at that, the rodent was very important to her. Even if she didn't have fresh fruit or vegetables on hand for herself, she made sure he did. I saw her pull a grape out of the refrigerator and call to him to come and get it. He wiggled his fat body out of the soup can and took the treat from her fingers. He scrunched up his face at her then scurried back inside, probably to eat it away from my prying eyes.

"Ok Batman, we can go now."

It was about a ten-minute ride to Hamilton and as we got closer to the restaurant I let my right hand fall on her thigh and I gave it a small squeeze. I wasn't sure how she would interpret it, but she smiled at me, so I guessed it was ok.

Dios, I wasn't even sure how to act with a woman that probably wasn't going to throw herself at my feet by the end of the night. This was new to me. And Stephanie Plum was certainly an anomaly.

I parked in front and got out of the car to assist her. She took my hand and smiled at me strangely. I guessed she wasn't used to valor either.

I kissed the hand I held lightly, as much to break the silence as to let her know I was being attentive. We walked together to the front door and Miguel, the owner, caught my eye.

"Carlos, good to see you again."

"Miguel, this is Stephanie. Stephanie, Miguel." I introduced, putting my hand on the small of her back to let him know she was with me as a date and to leave us alone.

The Maître d' took a couple of menus from behind his station and led us back to the table in the alcove that I had reserved. He seated us and placed a napkin on each of our laps before handing us the menus. I asked in Spanish for a bottle of 2001Reserva Señorío de P. Peciña, a rioja of exceptional flavor and complexity for the table. He nodded slightly and then left us alone.

"I noticed the man at the door called you Carlos," she said, looking at me questioningly, "do you know him very well?"

"I used to come here a lot when I first moved to Trenton. It was a place where I could be me and leave the tough guy at home. The name on my credit card is Carlos Manoso, so Miguel's always called me Carlos," I told her, giving away a little more about myself than I usually do.

"Do you like to be called Carlos?" she asked me, possibly prying for more information.

"My family calls me Carlos, so it doesn't phase me one way or the other, although Ranger serves its purposes," I answered truthfully. The name Ranger has a hardness to it that let me wander the streets of Trenton and added to my reputation. It was a useful moniker.

A waiter came over to our table with the bottle of wine that I ordered. He opened it with a simple cork puller, handed me the cork, then poured me a tasting. Stephanie's eyes were on me as I swirled the wine in its glass, sniffed it and finally tasted it.

I nodded to our waiter and he then poured a glass for Stephanie before filling mine.

"You seem to know your way around wine, Batman."

"Wine, women and song, Babe," I said, quoting the hendiatris that is synonymous with hedonism.

Stephanie stared at me, so instead of letting her read more into that than I intended I raised my glass and toasted her, "To you, Babe."

"To you too, Batman," she said returning to her usual self and clinking glasses with me.

"You shocked me earlier Babe," I said, wanting to let her know how I felt about her coming up with the name of Diego Santana.

"I didn't think anything could _shock_ you,Ranger."

"Figure of speech. But you seemed to have pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Governor Christie's office gave me the Diego Santana name to look into. His aides just presented it to him. It took them five years."

"I guess he needs better aides. I got it on the first try," she said with a slight grin on her face.

"Or maybe you're better than you think you are. What criteria did you use?"

"As I told you, I just enter it the way I see it. We were looking for a very tall guy, so it seemed pretty obvious to me that that should be part of the equation. What I typed in was 'all known Hispanic sex offenders registered before 2008' and then I cross-referenced men over 6'3"."

"Proud of you Babe," I said clinking glasses with her again.

Our waiter came over to take our order, but since we hadn't even opened our menus yet, I politely sent him away.

"I recommend the Paella a la Valenciana if you're up for seafood and their Pimientos Asados is an excellent appetizer."

"What are you going to have?"

"The filetes de pollo en salsa de vino…chicken cutlets in wine sauce."

"No paella for you?"

"If you get it, I'll have some of yours."

She seemed to be studying the menu. "It all sounds good Batman, are you sure about the paella or should I get this shellfish casserole?"

The shellfish casserole was good, I'd had it before, but their paella was exceptional. I wanted her to remember this evening so I pushed for the paella.

"It's hard to find a better paella than what they make here. Between those two dishes, I'd opt for the paella."

"Ok paella it is," she said and closed her menu.

"Appetizer Babe?"

"You order."

I ordered the roasted peppers I had suggested earlier and their asparagus in vinaigrette sauce along with our two mains when our waiter returned. Stephanie was watching me intently.

"Your accent seems to have changed?" she said when I raised an eyebrow in question.

"In Málaga and throughout Europe they speak Castilian Spanish. My Cuban Spanish sounds vulgar to them, so I opted to clean up my pronunciations a bit. I didn't think you'd be able to tell the difference."

"Something in the 'j's' and g's'," she said surprising me, as that _was_ one of the differences.

I took her hand and kissed it. "Good observation Babe."

"So does your apartment in Miami have two bedrooms or are you trying to trick me into sharing a bed with you?"

"It has two bedrooms and two baths, and I wouldn't trick you into anything. Although if you wanted to share my bed, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"We don't share things like that anymore Batman."

"I've apologized numerous times for Hawaii Babe, even though I don't believe anything was my fault. I was attacked and I defended myself. I'm sorry you're still holding that against me."

"It was more the closet," she mumbled. "Listen, can we not talk about this?"*

I'm such an idiot sometimes, why did I have to bring that up? We were having such a good evening before I opened my mouth.

"I'm sorry Babe, what I said earlier was inappropriate. Forgive me?"

"Mmm. Mmm," she said, staring at her hands and beginning to pick at an imaginary cuticle.

I could see something made her uneasy. If I wanted her back in my life and back in my bed, I'd have to tread gingerly. Obviously I hurt her.

I decided a change of subject might be a good idea so I brought up the incident in the garage.

"Do you know Maya Laskey? She's a features editor for the _Times of Trenton_?"

"Yeah. My mom is friends with her mother? Why are you asking?"

I told her about Ms. Laskey's phone call and her proposition for the guys to do a shirtless photo shoot. When I told her about the standoff with Santos, she burst out laughing.

"Oh my God. She got him good. '_Oh please do._' I love it. I wished I saw that."

"I'm pretty sure one of our cameras recorded it. I'll ask Hal to pull it and keep it safe. That is, unless Santos has already destroyed it."

"Call now," she said, still laughing.

Thank God the change of subject worked.

I picked up my phone and called the desk. As expected, Hal answered.

"I'm sorry boss, I was hoping we'd have gotten rid of her before you came down. It won't happen again."

"It's ok. Can you do me a favor though and copy whatever the cameras caught of it? If you could send it to my phone as soon as you do, I'd really appreciate it. I think Stephanie may know her."

"Sure Ranger. Right on it."

Thankfully Hal was a little socially slow at times. He never saw any of it as funny.

_**Hal's POV**_

I had gotten a call from Ranger to pull some tapes from the garage cameras and send them to him. Since it seemed like he was in a hurry to identify the reporter, I left the monitor duty to Binkie and got right on it.

I found pretty much the entire incident. It had been recorded on two separate cameras, so I had to splice them together before I could send them off to Ranger.

After I removed the splices and was remotely rewinding the tapes to continue recording, I had a flashback.

I remembered other instances in the garage that Ranger had asked me to first copy and then destroy for him. Two came to mind, but there may have been others. Both involved him and Bomber.

The more memorable of the two happened right around the time that she was taken by that crazy undertaker. I guessed Ranger and her were headed out to look at the area where some bodies were recovered. He sent her up to his apartment to change while he waited for her by his truck. I only know this because as I said, he asked me to piece a few hours together for him before destroying the tapes. I am by no means a voyeur.

So anyway when she came back down they were both positioned right under a security camera; thankfully that piece was easy for me to find. They were dressed identically which made me chuckle. She looked like a mini-Ranger. She must have said something to him, since he opened her windbreaker to hook a gun onto her gun belt. _I_ even noticed that her Rangeman shirt barely covered the top of her cargos and as she moved, you could see her belly. I guess that's what set Ranger off, because in the next instant his hands were under her shirt and then he was kissing her. She was smiling and didn't seem to protest, so I assumed it was consensual, although I was sure he didn't want the whole office seeing that tape.

Another instance that he'd asked me to copy and then destroy for him happened at his desk. It was during the Dave Brewer serial killer crap-shoot. I had pulled the tapes from the lot where the Bonds office had been and sent them to Ranger and Tank after another body had been dumped. I guessed Stephanie had spent the night at Ranger's because while Ranger was going over the tapes, she came down from his apartment and stood behind him at his desk. While they watched the tapes together she kissed and nuzzled his neck. I turned the feed for that particular camera around because I thought they might just jump each other right there. Like I said I'm not a voyeur, but when Ranger asked me to pull the tapes from that morning, and the night before when she arrived, I clearly saw she was wearing the same clothes. Like I said, I do not judge, I just do my job.

By now I had spliced the video from the two cameras that cover the front of the garage together and I sent them off to Ranger via email.

That being done, I gave Binkie a much needed break and watched the monitors. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but as I didn't want to divide my time between four monitors and my cell, I let it buzz until Binkie came back. What I saw when I finally took it out of my pocket surprised me. It was a text from Steph:

'Thank you Hal. You made my day.'

Made her day? How? I was going to let it go, but my curiosity got the better of me.

'How?' I texted back.

'Did you see Les fumble? Les never fumbles. It was great. Thank you.'

Some people found the oddest things funny.

'You're welcome. Did you know the reporter?'

'Yeah. My mother is a friend of her mother's. She's a little strange. I never took to her as a person.'

'Good to know. She wanted us to pose for her.'

'Yeah Ranger told me. Beefcake, huh Hal?'

If this wasn't being said through texting, I'd be embarrassed. I never saw myself as beefcake material.

_* In case you haven't read all the JE books, here's a little synopsis: In Explosive Eighteen Stephanie went to Hawaii on vacation. Morelli was supposed to go with her, then got called away on business so she went by herself. She saw a high bond FTA in the airport and because she's not licensed to apprehend out of state, she called Ranger. He came to Hawaii and they found where the FTA and his wife were staying, so they checked into the same place as husband and wife. Unfortunately they spent a lot of time naked with each other instead of getting the FTA right away. And then Morelli showed up._

_He took one look at Ranger's clothes spread around the vacation condo and got all crazy, so he punched him. Ranger punched back and then before they killed each other, Steph zapped both of them with her stun gun and deposited them at the local police department. Then she split and came back to Trenton._

_The closet incident happens when she's back and has to ask Ranger to help her with a takedown. An alarm goes off at a house they've B and E'd and they both jump into a broom closet where he has some really poorly written sex with her. That was the last time (in JEs world anyway) they had sex together-my story takes place after that point._


	5. Chapter 5

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 5

_**Ranger's POV**_

I hoped the change in conversation and the video from the garage would lighten her mood. I really wanted her to enjoy this evening and not dwell on my faux pas. I was happy when ten minutes later my phone dinged that I had an email. I hoped it was from Hal.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at it. Stephanie eyed me intently and when I let myself smile seeing it was the tape from Hal, she smiled too.

I set it up and handed it over to her. I watched her face as she watched the video.

"Ohmigod Ranger. Oh my God!" she said, covering her mouth with her hand as she stared at the screen. Then she burst into a fit of laughter again. "This is too good, can I get a copy of this? Ohmigod."

"I'll forward it to your phone so you can look at it over and over again if this makes you that happy."

"Oh it really does. When was the last time you saw anyone get anything over on Lester? And he didn't even know it right away, that's what makes this funnier."

"Ok Babe, give me the phone back and I'll send it to you."

She relinquished my phone, albeit reluctantly and I sent her the video. It would be worth it to see that smile on her face again, even if she did have some incriminating evidence at her disposal.

I heard her phone ding that the email arrived and she pulled it out of her bag with a big smile on her face to look at it one more time. Then I saw her texting. I hoped she wasn't sharing this with Lula and Connie.

"Babe?"

"I'm just texting Hal. This so made my day."

She was still looking at the video and smiling when the waiter appeared with our appetizers. I knew how much Steph loved her food so it would be an interesting wager to see which she went for at the moment. Not that I really cared to bet or had anyone to wager with, but the sentiment was there.

She looked up, saw the appetizers arrive then carefully tucked her phone back into her bag. No contest.

"Mmmm," she moaned, taking a bite of the pepper seared in olive oil, "Ranger you have to try this," she added taking another forkful of the Andalucian tapa.

I expected her to pop that in her mouth too, but instead she leaned over and fed it to me. Between her moan and the somewhat erotic feeding, my pants felt a little tight. I hoped she didn't look down when she removed the fork to take it back.

"Very good," I said, my voice probably a few octaves lower. "Now let's try the asparagus," I added taking the tip of one onto my fork. I leaned over to Steph and did what she just did to me. I fed it to her.

"Mmmm," she moaned again, this time a little louder. If I wasn't uncomfortable before, I certainly was now. And thank God we had the alcove to ourselves.

"Batman that was hot," she said after she swallowed the piece I gave her.

"I'm sorry Babe, I should have tested it first. Did you burn your tongue?"

"Tongue? No and not that kind of hot," she said wide-eyed and maybe a little embarrassed at her outburst.

I smiled to myself. Good to know.

I could have fed her all night and watched her reactions, but I knew she'd be uncomfortable if I kept it up, so I surrendered and we ate our appetizers in relative quiet. Well, I was quiet.

After the waiter took our plates away, I took her hand and kissed it.

"Babe, would you like to dance while we wait for our entrees?"

She looked at me a little strangely, then followed my eye to the small dance floor by the bar. Couples were dancing to the romantic Spanish guitar music that was softly coming from the speakers above the bar.

"They all look so happy."

"It's the music Babe. Come on, you'll like it," I whispered to her, helping her up and leading her over to the dance floor.

Classical Spanish guitar music is both sensual and soothing. It's lyrical without words and hauntingly beautiful. I've known it to bring up all kinds of emotions. The music playing right now seemed to evoke happiness and I thought it would help to heal our slightly strained relationship. I also knew that if I got Steph in my arms our bodies would talk to each other and she would hear what mine had to say. In fact I was counting on it.

"Mmm Batman, you feel good," she said as we put our arms around each other. I think the wine loosened her tongue.

"You always feel good, Babe," I said placing a lingering kiss on the tip of her nose and looking down at her lovingly.

"Ranger?"

"What Babe?" I whispered.

"Sorry, I just picked up something, but it passed. I guess it was nothing."

"Talk to me," I said to her, moving in time to the music and bringing her just a little closer.

"Did you feel it?" she asked.

"I feel you in my arms, should I be feeling something else?" I whispered.

She reached her head up and kissed me. Her lips didn't quite make it to mine, but I got the message and leaned down to brush mine against hers.

"I'm going to get hurt again, aren't I?"

"Our dinner's here," I said unconsciously thanking the wait staff for being so accommodating. Yes I needed to talk to her, but somehow the words were stuck in the back of my throat. "Can we finish this conversation after dinner?"

I felt her tense then nod at me.

I led her back to our table and kissed her as I helped her into her chair. I hoped she took that kiss the right way.

Sadly she was quiet at dinner. I was hoping to keep some of what we felt earlier with us while we ate. I told her I'd share her paella with her, but as of yet she hadn't offered me any.

"Penny for your thoughts Babe?"

"It'll cost you more than that," she said.

"Ok, I'll put my cards down first. I was hoping for this night to be special but…"

"Yeah Ranger, there's always a 'but'," she broke in before I had a chance to finish. "I'd like to go home now."

"Babe please, give me a chance," I said, taking her hand in mine, kissing it then trying again. "I wanted tonight to be special. I was hoping we could rekindle some of what we had in Hawaii."

"Before or after you told me in no uncertain terms that you didn't do relationships?"

"I'm an ass, what can I tell you. That was insensitive…"

"Yeah," she broke in again, removing her hand from mine. "There probably _was_ a more _sensitive_ way to tell me…"

"Babe, please hear me out." She tilted her head and looked at me, so I continued.

"I can't live without you in my life. I've tried. I've pushed you away. I've sent you back to the cop and I've said horrible things to you. I want to make amends."

"Amends? Talk Batman. You have five minutes."

"I'd like to spend time with you, buy you nice things, take you places…"

"That's called a relationship Ranger. You don't _do_ relationships."

"Maybe it's time for me to try. Babe, please forgive me for the stupid things I've said to you in the past. I'd like to move forward…and I'd like to move forward with you," I said getting up and putting my arms around her.

I nuzzled the top of her head, rocking her gently and then I kissed her. I was hoping my apology, my affection and my promise of change would be enough. I had nothing more to give her; she already had my heart.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"I couldn't be more serious Babe."

_**Lester's POV**_

Maybe my case of the willies came at the right time. Hector had emailed Erik to say he picked up some new intel that Sturgeon was playing both sides of the coin. Heads, Sturgeon wins. Tails, Sturgeon wins. Never a good position for the other side to be in. I texted Sturgeon to tell him the deal was off and we headed back towards Trenton.

We were on the outskirts of Newark getting ready to take the ramp onto 95 when my phone dinged that I had a text. I was driving so I chose to ignore it. I heard Erik's phone ding too so I made the assumption it was from Rangeman.

"Yo, check that out," I said to Erik over the street noise that filtered in through my open window.

"It's not who you think," he said looking down at his phone. "It's Bomber trying to reach you. She wants you to meet her at her apartment when your shift is over."

My shift was over hours ago. She must have spoken with Hector and found out that Erik and I had gone to Newark.

"Can you text her back for me? Tell her I'll be there at eleven-thirty. I'll drop you off so you can meet with Hector and I'll go to her place."

"Sure man. I wonder if Hector had her run that search after all?"

"I don't know. It's not exactly like her to text me this late, so something must be up."

I upped my speed a little to try to get back to Trenton sooner. I was pretty sure Hector would understand if Erik and I divided and conquered. Especially if he had asked Steph to run that search on Sturgeon, nee: Sturgess Vacilla.

I made it back to Haywood in forty minutes without any tickets or sirens. I was glad for that part; Ranger would have my ass if I got a summons. Yeah we were protected in Trenton and probably Newark, but there was that long stretch of 95 from Newark to here that was the problem.

After I dropped Erik off, I made my way over to Steph's apartment. I called her from her parking lot just in case she had fallen asleep in front of the TV. Of course I could get in without a key, but that seemed inappropriate since she asked me to come.

"Hey Les, I was waiting for you."

"Is everything ok?"

"Come up and I'll tell you what I can."

Ok that was a little cryptic, '_what she_ _can_'?

I took the stairs, and when I knocked on her door I saw an eye through the peephole. Either she was getting better at watching out for her own ass, or I might not be the only one she was expecting.

She opened the door and let me in.

"Thanks for coming Les."

"Ok Beautiful, what's going on?"

She sat me down on her couch and asked me if I wanted some wine. I got the feeling _she_ wanted some, so I took her up on her offer. She brought two mismatched juice glasses into the living room along with a bottle of wine and a corkscrew.

I did the honors and when we both had a few sips, I asked her again what was going on.

"Ok Les, here's the deal. I just had dinner with Ranger..."

"Ok…business or pleasure?" I interrupted.

"I guess it was supposed to be pleasure. Les, how well do you know him?"

"I've known him since Ranger school, that's like…twelve years. Why?"

"Have you ever known him to say something that wasn't true?"

"He doesn't lie, but I've known him to omit things. Beautiful, what are you trying to tell me?"

"I guess I should start at the beginning. You know we're going down to Florida on Wednesday to see if we can find out anything about that abductor who took Darcy McCall… you know the kid…like five years ago. It's a Governor Christie request."

"Yeah, I know. I understand you came up with a name?"

"We came up with three; but it could be none of them. They are just starting points, but don't try to change the subject. Ranger wants me to stay with him at his apartment there. I mean I guess it's easier and cheaper than getting a hotel room…"

"Is that what's bothering you? I thought you stayed with him the other night?"

"Lester!" she said, getting a little huffy.

"Calm down Steph, I was just making an observation. I'm not judging you."

"Whoa, wait. You guys watch us…don't you? What do you think is going on between the two of us?"

"My personal opinion?"

"Well yeah, to start."

"Don't beat me up ok?"

"No I want to know."

"I think you guys just can't wait to get into the sack together, if you haven't already. Shit, you are so hot together."

"Lester!"

"I think he cares for you a lot and I think you feel the same way. It's probably complicated because of the freaking cop, who you should dump in my opinion."

She sat back in…well what can I say? Awe? I guessed she didn't think we were that observant. Hell, it's one of the things we were trained to do.

"Ok here's the deal," she said after blowing out a long breath and taking a minute to think about what she was going to say to me. "There have been um, 'extenuating circumstances' but for the most part we're not together like that. Ok, ok, Stephanie get it under control," she fumbled before continuing. "Lester, he told me he wants to spend time with me and take me places, kind of like a couple."

"_Kind of like_? Are you trying to say he wants to be in a relationship with you?"

She just nodded her head.

"I feel like I need a little background—this seems to be coming from nowhere," I said to her.

"Um I'm not comfortable talking about that stuff."

"Beautiful if you want my help I need something to go on. Pretend I'm Mary Lou—what would you tell her?"

"I wouldn't tell her either."

"Ok, let's go about this from a different angle then. You said all of a sudden Ranger wants to be with you. Exclusive, right?"

She nodded.

"Ranger doesn't tie himself to anyone-something had to have happened to change his mind."

"Ok ok, I guess it was Hawaiii."

"Ok…Hawaii. What about Hawaii?"

"Well you know that I asked Ranger to help me bring in the Rug. Simon Ruguzzi? He was that high-bond skip I saw in the airport there?"

"Yes."

"I guess what you didn't know is that in order to get him we had to stay at the couples-only resort where he and his wife were booked. We pretended to be married," she paused and bit her lower lip before continuing. "I guess we got carried away with the pretend."

I had heard enough.

"I think I see the picture. Now let's…"

"No, wait a minute, there's more…and this is what makes me not trust anything. Unexpectedly Morelli was able to get some time off from work, but I had already moved from my hotel to the vacation condo with Ranger. When he finally tracked me down, Ranger and I were holed up together and I was wearing a wedding band. Morelli went crazy and threw a punch at Ranger. Then Ranger reciprocated and they would have killed each other if I hadn't stepped in and stunned the both of them. I cuffed, then lugged them to my car and dropped them off at the local police department. When I knew they were going to be ok and have their wounds stitched up, I split back to Trenton. I left both of them there."

I opened my mouth to comment but she cut me off.

"No don't butt in yet, there's still more. They both got back on their own. My relationship with Morelli was for shit after that and I guess Ranger was pissed too, but he didn't really show it. I asked him to help me with a skip and we, um, how can I say this. We ended up in a broom closet together. I felt like I was being used and cut it off with Ranger, so things have been a little strained between the two of us since then. That was six-months ago."

Shit. I figured he acted like an ass. That man has too much testosterone. I wasn't going to go there now, so I backtracked a little.

"Ok. Now let's return to tonight. What did you say when he brought up the couple thing?"

"I asked him to take me home."


	6. Chapter 6

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 6

_**Hector's POV**_

While Lester and Erik were on their way to Newark I had gotten info that Sturgeon was planning to set us up. Word on the street was that he was bragging about his ability to put one over on Rangeman. He was going to give us false information, take our money and then 'detain' us while his posse pulled a robbery at Prudential Financial.

I emailed Erik and Lester to let them know what I found out and to warn them about Sturgeon's intentions. Thankfully I caught them in time. I also got Tank to pull a Newark team together to head over to Prudential in case Sturgeon's gangsters went ahead with their plans anyway. I had asked Les and Erik to meet me at my apartment when they got back to Trenton, so I was a little concerned when only Erik knocked on my door a little after eleven.

"Where's Santos?" I asked after opening the door to Erik.

"Stephanie texted us, she asked Lester to meet at her apartment when we got back. Did you ask her to run that search?"

"No. I never got that far. I got a call from my man in Newark and pulled you guys out of there before it got ugly. Did Santos head over to the chica's?"

"Yeah, do you need him? I can text him."

"She probably had good reason to want to see him. I'll catch up with him later."

I told Erik what I learned. He insisted they would have been ok even if they'd made the transfer, but I somehow doubted that. Sturgeon's posse could be pretty ugly when they got riled up. I should know; I used to hang with them.

I knew that Steph had been out to dinner with Ranger _and_ that he'd been in a foul mood for months. I hoped he hadn't taken it out on her for doing a little research on her own. I almost wondered if that was why she called Santos. They were good friends and if Ranger tongue-lashed her, I was sure she'd want someone to talk to. I was beginning to get pissed off at Ranger.

Just to see for myself, I remotely checked the video log. He arrived back at Rangeman at 9:46. Alone.

I'd never consider myself a busybody, but something had me feeling a little uneasy. So I did something I wouldn't normally do. I texted Santos.

'Is everything ok with Steph?'

'We're talking,' is what I got texted back. That could mean anything.

'Good or bad,' I tried again.

'Depends. I'll text you later. I need a favor.'

'?'

'Later.'

A little after one my phone dinged that I had a text. It was Santos.

'Everything ok?' I asked.

'Are you up? I want to stop by.'

'Of course I'm up.'

'Be right there.'

Two minutes later there was a knock on my door. Of course I didn't question why he was visiting me at one in the morning.

"I figure this has to do with Chica?"

"Yeah. She had dinner with Ranger tonight and she was a little upset about the outcome. I was wondering if you could keep an eye on her in Miami?"

"She's staying with Ranger, she doesn't need _my_ eye."

"She thinks she does. Right now she's not trusting him."

"What? After all they've been through together? You can't ask me to do something like that and not tell me what's going on," I told him, although I got the feeling he had promised secrecy.

"Ok listen, you know how we all think they'd be great together if they just accepted that attraction between them?"

I nodded and he continued.

"Well it looks like he's made a move, but she doesn't trust it. Seems like they might have tried something similar before and she felt like he was just taking advantage of her. She doesn't quite believe that it will be different this time."

"So what do you want me to do?"

I saw an evil look appear on Santos' face. Obviously he had something in mind that he hadn't discussed with Estefania.

"She would like nothing better than for you, Slick and Junior to keep her occupied so she'd have as little time alone with Ranger as possible, but I don't think that's the answer. I think they need to work this out, so I saw just the opposite. They need time together to talk."

"So you want me to play matchmaker?"

"No, they'll do a good enough job of that on their own if they can just air some of the shit between them. I was thinking that maybe you could come up with excuses to leave them alone. You know like the lunch for five somehow becomes the lunch for two."

"She'll see right through that one."

"Not if you have legitimate excuses. You guys are all separately checking out a tall Hispanic man with a white teenager. You'll be asking questions around Miami, so it seems logical that you'll get calls back. We always do…"

"So you want us to one-by-one get texts or phone calls and have to leave?" I asked him, finally catching on.

He nodded.

"I think I know how to do that."

Lester seemed pleased with that answer and I saw multiple ways to make it happen.

He turned to go, but I had another pressing question, "Santos, what happens if they talk and feel they can't resolve this? Just because we all think they'd be hot together doesn't necessarily mean they'll think so. We're not going to just keep throwing them together are we?"

"No. That would be cruel."

He left and I set to work downloading a few apps that I could remotely install on Junior and Slick's phones. We hadn't discussed if they'd be in on this, but if I set it up right, they didn't need to be.

_**Hal's POV**_

Ranger asked me to pull some IDs for him and Steph in case they had to follow the 'tall Hispanic man' out of the country. A long time ago we had set up the Marc and Stephanie Pardo aliases. We'd used Marc's numerous times, but we've never had occasion to use Stephanie's. I printed out the passport and driver's license for her on the 'official' paper we kept around for such emergencies. I laminated the license and embossed the passport photo. I was putting the empty pages together in the blue U.S. Passport cover when Ranger came into my small work area to see how things were shaping up. He picked up the Stephanie Pardo driver's license, while I put a final staple in the passport.

"I didn't think I needed to print out new ones for you boss, they're in the Rangeman safe," I told him before he questioned me.

"You do good work," he said, taking the passport from me and examining the picture of Stephanie I pulled from our files. He was smiling as he handed it back. "Have you been in the safe recently? Do you know if the rings I picked up for us are in there?" he asked me.

"I think you were the last one to take them out when you went to Hawaii to meet up with Steph and go after that skip."

"I put mine back," he said pausing before mumbling, "I have a feeling this is going to be an awkward phone conversation." And then to me he added, "Can you call Roebling jewelers and just replace Steph's rings? Same size, same settings."

I just looked at him strangely, but I nodded and went into my computer to see what we had purchased for her before. I almost did a double take when I saw the cost of the two rings. Obviously we weren't using cubic zirconium stand-ins. And holy shit, he was willing to foot the bill for this all over again? Then for a second I wondered what happened to that first set.

Not really any of my business. So I did as I was asked; I called the jewelry store, which happened to be one of our accounts, and asked to replace the rings. I was told that they were insured and if they were lost or stolen we should call our adjuster first. I didn't know what to say to that, so I just told the woman at the other end of the line that we wanted a second, identical set. I guessed I'd have to let Ranger know, but I didn't think we had the time to go though an insurance adjustment if they were leaving tomorrow.

Before I hung up with the jewelry store I was told the rings would be at Rangeman in a few hours and I was advised to purchase additional insurance on them.

I wasn't the one who insured them in the first place, so I had to call Ranger. Shit.

"Um Ranger," I said, using my phone again for what would most likely be an unpleasant call, "I was able to replace the rings, but the woman who took my order told me the first set was insured and that we should call our adjuster."

"We don't have time for a full inquiry and besides I'm pretty sure I know where they are..."

"Well she suggested we purchase additional insurance," I continued, breaking in before I heard something I didn't think I wanted to hear.

"I'll take care of that," he said ending the call.

He knew where they were; yet he was purchasing new ones to the tune of over ten thousand dollars? Seemed a little eccentric to me, but hey it wasn't my money, and the card we used for such expenses wasn't Rangeman's either. This was a personal expenditure.

I snapped out of it when Hector walked in. His tech lab is on the same floor as the infirmary and my little 'art' studio. We often checked up on each other when a door was open or a light was on.

"Just checking," he said and was about to turn around and leave.

"Wait Hector come here, I want to show you something," I said suddenly wanting another opinion. "What do you think of this?" I asked showing him the two bills of sale on my computer.

"A little OCD, but we already know he's obsessed with her."

"That's a lot of money to spend on replacement jewelry, especially since he said he knows where the originals are."

"Let it be. I'd rather he obsess over that than over us. He's been impossible lately and I have to spend the next couple weeks with him."

"Yeah, I thought you were banned from working?"

"I had to remotely install some apps. I'm heading out now. I'll be back tonight if you need me for anything."

"Ok man, thanks for taking a look at this."

"De nada."

I guessed he was right; it wasn't worth obsessing over. I took another look at the passport I'd just put together and smiled to myself at Ranger's earlier comment. This _was _one of my better creations.

I took them with me up to five and stopped by Tank's office. I do have access to the Rangeman safe, but I felt more comfortable letting someone else open it. He was sitting at his desk and I saw his eye go to the passport and driver's license I was holding. He gestured me over and took the documents from me. They looked like miniatures in his huge hands. He thumbed through them and then smiled.

"Nice job. I guess you want me to put these in the safe until tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah and some jewelry for Steph is going to be arriving from Roebling's in a couple of hours. That should go in there too."

"Jewelry?"

"It seems like the rings he purchased for her before are missing. But he's pretty sure he knows where they are. He just asked me to get duplicates in the interest of time."

Tank looked at me strangely and then raised one eyebrow in question.

"Man, I don't know the details and I don't think I want to. I'm just doing my job."

He burst out laughing at that one. "Yeah aren't we all. I'm sure if it concerns Stephanie there could be any number of reasons and I don't think I want to know either."

Tank took the docs from me and I went back to my desk to check email and catch up on paperwork. I had one more shift of monitor duty tonight before I was off rotation for a month. Thank God for small favors.

_**Slick's POV**_

I walked by Hal's cubicle and noticed him sitting at his desk in the dark. We all have desk lamps, but his was unlit and the only light was coming from his computer screen.

"Hal?" I prodded quietly to make sure he was ok. He'd been working a lot of hours lately and I hoped he hadn't fallen asleep at his desk.

"Hey," he said turning his head around quickly to see who was standing there. His voice sounded a little weak, so I asked if he was ok.

"Yeah," he said then seemed to change his mind. "I don't know. A couple of things are bothering me that I just can't seem to shake."

"Want to share?"

It was then that his desk phone rang. From the sound of it, he had a delivery at reception. He got up after he replaced his phone and I followed him to the stairwell.

"Are you ok, man?" I asked him again.

"Let me show you something. Come with me to pick up a package."

By now I was intrigued. We took the stairs down to the lobby and a small bag from Roebling Jewelers was set off to the side. Benny picked it up from the reception counter and handed it to Hal.

"Is there something we should know?" he asked playfully, eyeing the name and logo on the bag.

"Not me. I'm just the middleman."

I couldn't help but wonder 'middleman for who?'

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" I asked him as we turned from Benny's desk and headed back towards the stairs.

"Yeah, let's take a five minute break and get off camera. Feel like a coffee at Sal's?"

"Sure man." Obviously this was something he felt he needed to take offline.

Sal's deli is around the corner, so we made a one-eighty and went out the front door. Hal put the parcel into one of the pockets of his cargos before we exited Rangeman. Guessed he didn't feel too comfortable walking around with a jewelry bag.

After we got our coffees, pumped out our milk and added sugar to our drinks we

stood at the waist-high counter of Sal's and I looked at Hal again. "So?"

"Ok man, take a look at this," he said pulling the Roebling's bag from his pants pocket and handing it to me.

I opened the bag and inside was a small jewelry box. I knew immediately that there was a ring inside, so I opened it. I was surprised to find it a double ring case. There were slots for both a wedding and an engagement ring. And both slots were taken.

"Not yours obviously." I said.

"No they belong to Ranger."

"For the undercover job in Miami?" I ventured.

"You know, I just don't know anymore. Yeah, I guess. Ranger asked me to get these as replacements for the ones that used to be in our safe. I always figured we were using high quality cubic zirconium to simulate some very expensive rings, but by the bill of sale that came along with these babies, we're not."

"Ok so I guess he assumes someone may be able to tell the difference. Not unheard of. What do you mean by replacements?"

He exhaled the breath he seemed to have been holding since picking up the package from Benny and told me what he knew.

_**Erik's POV**_

Jamie, the new guy, and I had just come off rotation. I was hot as the A/C in our car didn't seem to be working properly and the outside temps were in the high 80s. Not unheard of for late May in Trenton, but a little 'warm' none the less. I had always followed the rule of thumb my grandmother instilled in me when I was little. When you're hot drink something hot, your body will automatically cool itself down. The idea seemed at odds with itself, but it worked. So I left Jamie to park the car and I stopped at the deli to get a coffee.

Hal and Slick were standing at one of the high counters and seemed to be in deep conversation.

Slick caught my eye and nodded. He said something to Hal and then he called me over. He put something in my hand and asked me what my impressions were. I thought that was a little strange so I looked closer at what he gave me. It was a small jewelry box. Of course I opened it and saw it contained two rings.

"These aren't yours are they? I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."

"I'm not and they're not Hal's either. Ranger asked Hal to pick them up for him. We assume they are props for the Miami job, but who the hell knows. He told Hal they were replacements and getting back the originals required a conversation he wasn't willing to have right now. Doesn't that sound odd to you?"

"Honestly?" I asked and Slick nodded. Hal still looked like he was going to be sick at any minute.

"With Ranger, nothing seems odd and everything seems odd. For once I'd like to have a normal conversation with that man. For someone who's so bright and so business savvy he's kind of socially retarded, don't you think?"

"Shit man," Slick said, his eyes lighting up like high beams, "that's the best description I've heard of Ranger in a long time; maybe ever. Socially retarded."


	7. Chapter 7

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :) And thank you too for pushing me to write about some things we all wanted those answers to :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 7

_**Ranger's POV**_

We were leaving for Florida in the morning. Things hadn't quite turned out the way I wanted and to make matters worse, Steph and I'd be sharing my apartment for a few weeks. I hadn't lied to her when I told her it was a two-bedroom, two-bath place, it was. Although I had been hoping we'd only need to use half of it. I guessed my opportunist mentality was showing itself again. I had to learn to turn that off, especially when dealing with Stephanie Plum. She had a way of altering even the best-laid plans.

For once I wasn't sure what to do; I couldn't force myself into her heart. I knew that. I also knew the connection between us was still there. I could feel it. And I could honestly tell when she was nearby and by the way I rarely seemed to surprise her with my presence, I think she could sense me too. That had to account for something besides in-tune biorhythms.

I wanted to talk to her but knowing Stephanie, if she saw my name on her caller ID she'd send the call to voicemail. I could go over there on the pretense of giving her the IDs I'd set up for her, but that really wasn't necessary. We would only need to use them if we had to go out of the country.

I decided on another tact. I walked over to the control room where Hal was on duty. I checked the screen that monitors our fleet and the few other people we like to keep tabs on. On a slow night Hector color-coded some of the blips that represented vehicles. Stephanie's was magenta. I saw by the co-ordinates on the map overlay that her car was in her parking lot and her personal tracker showed she was in her apartment.

I left and went down to my car.

It was after nine and both the florist and Tasty Pastry were closed, but I knew of an all-night bodega that sold flowers and made fresh tres leche cakes. I figured with Stephanie's love of sweets that she would like it. And I really needed to come baring gifts if I wanted my apology to be taken seriously. I picked up a half-dozen long-stemmed red roses, and before I went to the register where the cake sat under a domed lid, I hit the junk food aisle and picked up a box of Tastykake butterscotch krimpets. Something had to be to her liking.

I paid for my purchases and then headed back to Trenton. Her car was still in the parking lot and lights were on in her apartment. I let myself in the back door and took the stairs. The part of me that likes to take her by surprise wasn't working tonight so I rang her bell. I saw her eye come to the peephole after a few seconds. My heart was in my mouth. Was she going to acknowledge me and invite me in, or was she going to ignore me? Dios, I haven't been this uncomfortable since I was in high school and asked Savannah Delgado to the senior prom.

Suddenly I heard the chain unclasp and the locks turn. Thank God.

"No hocus pocus on my locks tonight?"

I nodded no. "I needed to see you Babe. Can I come in?"

She opened the door wider and let me enter.

"I brought you some presents. This is a homemade tres leches cake," I said handing her the small cake box wrapped with string. "I have some Tastykakes in the bag in case you don't like it and these are for you too," I said handing her the flowers that were beginning to open in the warm room.

"Why?"

"I wasn't sure you would see me."

"Why?" she asked again.

"Last night didn't seem to go over too well. Do you have a vase?" I asked taking the flowers back from her and walking into her kitchen to give myself a chance to think about what I wanted to say.

"Above the sink," she murmured.

I turned to look at her and she was removing the string from the white pastry box.

"Oh Ranger, this smells fabulous," she said inhaling deeply and letting out a small moan. "Can you get a couple of plates and forks too?"

After I put the flowers in water and placed them on the counter next to Rex, I took two plates from the dish drainer. They looked dry. I didn't see any napkins, so I pulled a few paper towels from the roll and opened a drawer at random looking for forks. If I brought the cake, I'd better damned well be willing to taste it.

I took everything into the living room and placed them down on her coffee table. Then I went back for a knife to cut the cake.

"You know what we need with this Ranger," she said still eyeing the cake intently.

I really didn't know what would go well with tres leches besides Cuban coffee, and I was about to say that and offer to try to make it with what she had on hand when she blurted out, "a glass of milk."

"Ok Babe, coming right up," I said and went to her refrigerator to take out milk and get a glass. I opened the door and looked around. Grapes, baby carrots, Maxwellhouse coffee and a few hastily re-closed Chinese food containers. No milk.

"I'll be right back," I said, grabbing the fob for my Porsche from the counter where I dropped it. I'd have to pay a visit to a store.

The truth was, I'd do most anything for her right now. I found an open deli a few blocks away and I picked up not only a quart of milk but some Café Bustelo and Sugar in the Raw in case I could convince her to try some Cuban coffee.

I'd have to use the espresso maker I saw in her closet while I was looking for the vase, but I guessed it would work.

I knew we were going to be in Miami for the next few weeks or I would have done a little grocery shopping for her too. For now milk, Café Bustelo and Sugar in the Raw would have to do.

When I got back to her apartment, Stephanie was sitting on the floor of her living room with an open suitcase and piles of clothes all around her.

"I'm not sure what to take Ranger. Will you need me to do any distractions?"

"I'll help you pack later. Would you like to try some Cuban coffee or is a glass of milk all you want?"

"Were you really going to make coffee?"

"Only the best for you Babe."

"Ok, then I'll try some too. What about distractions?" she asked again as I reached up for her espresso maker that was on the top shelf.

"There aren't any planned. Why don't you relax while I make coffee and we can talk in a few minutes?"

She nodded that she was amenable, got up from the floor and sat on the couch to watch me while I worked. Five minutes later the coffee was ready. I had found espresso cups on the top shelf next to her espresso maker and I'd taken two down, washed and dried them. I poured a small amount into each and sat them down on the coffee table in front of her. I went back to the kitchen and brought in the container of milk and a glass in case Steph wanted that instead.

I looked at her to judge if she was uncomfortable with all I was doing. She seemed ok, so I cut two pieces of the tres leches and put one on each plate. I handed her a fork and sat down next to her.

"Thank you Ranger," she said looking over at me.

"Take a bite before you thank me Babe."

She cut a small corner, then brought it to her mouth.

"Oh my God Ranger, this is so good." And then she moaned.

Unfortunately I was sitting right next to her and the moan most definitely had an effect on me. To cover up, I took a bite of the piece of cake in front of me, then put the plate down on my lap.

"Ranger," she said eyeing me in surprise, "you ate _cake_?"

"Mmm, Babe," I mumbled. "Yeah this isgood, but not as good as my mother's."

"Your mom _makes_ this?"

"When we get back from Florida, I'll bring you to Newark for a taste of hers."

"You really want me to meet your mother?"

"Well if you don't want to meet her I can just ask her to make it for you."

"Uh, no, I want to meet her."

I really felt a change of subject was in order. Not that I didn't want to introduce Stephanie to my family. I did…but I wasn't sure I was ready for the shit that would come along with it.

"Babe, try the coffee."

She tentatively brought the small cup to her mouth and took a sip.

"Ranger, this is soooo good. I can't believe _you_ made this."

"Nothing to it," I said, really glad it was something she liked. I was prepared for anything.

She devoured the rest of her cake while I watched her. The main reason for me coming over tonight was to talk to her, but I wanted her happy first.

"Babe, I think we need to air some shit between us."

"It's ok Ranger, I'm good," she said, obviously in denial as to what I'd put her through.

"Yeah, but I'm not. I said a lot of things to you that I've no excuses for. They were the same automatic responses I've said to every woman since Rachel."

She looked at me like she was going to bolt, then realized this was her apartment. I could tell she was processing a few things in her head and I really hoped she wouldn't clam up or worse, send me on my way.

I guessed she finally made peace with the fact that I wanted to talk.

"Ok Batman, what's up?"

"First I want to apologize for last night. I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way. That was not my intention. I just wanted you to have a nice night."

"It's ok. I guess I read too much into things. I let myself get sucked into your force field again and I know what happens after that."

"Babe, I've been trying to tell you that I want to be with you…"

"Yeah I know but I'll have to leave your bed eventually, you don't…"

"Babe," I said, pulling her close and just holding her. If she couldn't hear my words, maybe my actions would show her.

"Some wise man who's been watching my back for the last twelve years recently said to me, 'What are you running from Manoso?'" I tried again, this time sharing a conversation I'd had with Tank not that long ago. "He made me think. And I can't rationalize it away anymore."

"_It_ Ranger?"

"You Babe. Listen we can talk about this further in Florida, but I wanted to clear the air before we left. There are some things I've said to you that make me want to kick myself. I feel like I have to get them off my chest for you to believe I really want to be with you."

She nodded, but didn't say anything, so I continued.

"Number one. _My lifestyle doesn't lend it self to relationships_. That was some bullshit line I concocted as a self-defense mechanism. Not necessarily for you, but since it seemed to work, I kept saying it. It may have been true when I was running off on missions every few months, but my missions are over."

Stephanie was sitting quietly, so I just went on.

"Number two. _You're a line item in my budget under entertainment._ In all honesty my accountant asked me to delineate the large expenditures that came out of my pocket every time I pulled in my men to help you out. He told me I needed to account for it if I was going to write it off against the business. I told him to just forget it, I didn't need to write it off, but he insisted it had to go somewhere. He suggested entertainment. It wasn't right that I threw that in your face, but I thought you'd see the humor in it. When you didn't, I changed my tact and told you I loved you, but of course, asshole that I was, I had to discredit it by saying something stupid. I remember adding 'in my own way' to that. I can't fucking believe I said that to you."

Steph was still looking at me. I could tell I'd hit a chord with that last confession, but she didn't cut me off to beat the shit out of me, so I continued.

"Number three. I think this one you just mentioned. _You'll have to leave my bed eventually. _We can plug that one right in with _my lifestyle doesn't lend itself to relationships_. It was a bullshit excuse to avoid entanglements. Again, it worked before, but obviously it hurt you. Shall I go on?"

Steph shook her head no.

"I hope you can find a way to accept my sincere apology. I am so sorry; I never meant to harm you in any way. I love you Babe."

I noticed her eyes starting to well up. Shit. Now I did it. I made her cry.

She sniffled, then looked at me. "Don't let it happen again."

_**Cal's POV**_

I bumped into Lester in the break room. He was looking a little tired, a little pissed off and a little confused.

"Hey man, what's up?" I asked.

"Sorry. I just spent the last couple of hours with Stephanie. I promised we'd watch the rodent, but she was having a meltdown over the fact that she couldn't get an appointment to have her legs waxed before leaving for Miami.

"Shit man, after all she's been through this week is that all that's bothering her?"

"Uh, yeah. What do you mean is that all? Miami is all about beaches and shorts and baring your legs. I can see why she'd be so upset."

"Well I happen to be a master waxer."

"Bullshit. What did you ever wax? Your car?"

"No seriously. I think I told you I worked as a bouncer at The Teeze. That strip club off Stark."

"Yeah. You said that, so?"

"Well I got to know the girls real well and Angelique, one of the Spanish girls, took a liking to me."

"So you fucked her, does that make you a master waxer?"

"We never had sex at all, but she had to wax off all her hair and had a hard time doing it herself. Since we were friends she asked me."

"Oh bullshit."

"No seriously man, she taught me how to wax her."

"You waxed her? Like total body wax?"

"Everything."

"Brazili…?"

"_Everything._ Then the other girls started commenting on how little she was irritated and how great her skin looked after a full body waxing. Somehow, the word got around that I was the one who waxed her. Next thing I knew I had seven girls in need of my services. So, as I said; I'm a master waxer."

"Stephanie's not going to let _you_ wax her, besides, where would you get the wax?"

"Angelique still works there. I'd just need to text her and we could use their back room. There were no bad feelings when I left, Harry wouldn't mind."

"Well you're going to have to tell your story to Steph. If she says ok, we can bring her over to the club before hours."

"We?"

"Shit man, you think I'm going to let you have all the fun. Seven totally hairless chicks. God my dick is doing a dance now."

"Ok, I'll call her, do you have her number handy?"

Les took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up her number, he hit send and gave me the ringing phone.

"Lester, what's the matter?" she said in lieu of hello.

"Hi Steph, this is Cal. I'm with Lester and he just gave me his phone. Listen, I may have a solution to your problem," I told her, going into the details then explaining that if she wasn't comfortable with me doing the waxing, I was sure Angelique would be more than happy to do it for her.

"Your serious aren't you Cal?"

"No bullshit. I have a lot of experience. I waxed at least two girls a week for over a year. They were so happy, they started tipping me."

"Bikini's too?"

"No I have to say I never had to finesse that area. All off."

"What if I didn't want it all off?"

"I've done eyebrows so I know how to keep a nice line."

"Ok, um but I'd really like Angelique to wax me. Don't be upset, I'm just not comfortable with you seeing all my, um…parts."

"That's ok, that's why I brought her up. But if it's done right, you don't _see_ anything."

"That's not possible if you're…um…taking it _all_ off."

"Well with a total body waxing it's not possible, but with a bikini wax it is. I thought you just wanted legs?"

"No, bikini too. Cal, I don't know if this is such a good idea after all."

"I'm sure Angelique will help you out. Give me five minutes to text her and then Santos and I can pick you up."

"Ok."

I handed Lester back his phone after hanging up. He was grinning from ear to ear. Guessed the idea of meeting a bunch of strippers was turning him on. I just shook my head and took out my own phone. I texted Angelique and she texted me right back.

'Happy to help out. I'm here. I'll turn the wax on.'


	8. Chapter 8

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :) And thank you too for pushing me to write about some things we all wanted answers to :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 8

_**Raphael's POV**_

My cube is right across from the breakroom, so I hear a lot of things that were never _really _intended for my ears. I knew that Ranger, Hector, Slick and Junior were heading to Florida in the morning courtesy of Governor Christie and that Stephanie was accompanying them. None of that was classified information. But what I did overhear that made me almost turn around and stare was Cal telling Lester that he'd done full-body waxes on the Teezer strippers and that he was offering to wax Steph's legs before her trip. I almost wished I kept my phone on record all day because I was pretty sure no one would believe me if I shared that little tidbit without some kind of proof. I guessed they got her to agree because I heard Cal on the phone with her and then Lester and Cal left together. I wondered what Ranger would do if he knew what these guys were planning.

I was still laughing to myself over the absurdity of the whole thing when Chet stopped by my cube.

"What's so funny man?"

"I just overheard something I can't even believe happened."

"Care to share?"

"Did you know that Cal used to be a bouncer at a strip club?"

"Yeah, I'd heard that."

"Well I just overheard him telling Lester that he used to wax the girls before their shows and he called himself a master. I guess Steph couldn't get an appointment for a leg waxing and had a little meltdown with Lester over it. Santos just mentioned it to Cal and now they are picking her up to take her to the backroom of Teezers for a waxing."

"By Cal?"

"Not sure. I only overheard one side of that conversation, but yeah, I think so."

"Ranger will have a shit fit if he finds out."

"That's what I was just laughing to myself about," I said letting out another chuckle.

"I don't know how Lester does it. That man just keeps digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole."

"Yeah but in his favor, he and Stephanie are good friends. She'd never let anything happen to him because of her. Cal on the other hand…"

"Cal on the other hand what?" Tank said walking by with a bottle of water.

Shit. I wasn't sure what he'd overheard. He didn't seem particularly angry. Yet you never knew with Tank. His blank face was just as non-telling as Ranger's.

"Raphael? What are Santos and Calvin up to now?"

Shit. He heard more than I thought he did.

"I gotta go," Chet said getting up to leave me alone with Tank.

"Stay," Tank commanded. "What's going on?"

I quickly decided I'd rather tell a partial truth than try to cover up anything.

"Nothing really. Lester and Cal are taking Steph somewhere Cal knows to get her legs waxed. She couldn't get an appointment at her regular place and mentioned it to Santos. They are just helping her out."

He was blocking the entrance to my cubicle, not letting Chet or I escape. He took his phone out of his pocket and tapped on a number.

"Santos, where are you?" he barked into the phone. "You have twenty minutes to get your ass back here and explain." "I don't care. Twenty minutes. My office."

I wasn't sure how long a leg waxing took, but I figured Santos would be late and not too happy about being reprimanded again anyway.

"And you two ladies." he said hanging up and turning his attention to Chet and myself. "My office now."

We followed the big guy down the hall. I was pretty sure we'd be taken to task for gossiping. That was one of the things Tank hated the most. He ushered us into his office and closed the door. He got behind his desk and with just a head nod told us to sit down.

"You know Stephanie Plum is off-limits right?"

Of course we knew it. If any of us asked her out in any way that could be misconstrued as a date we'd be taken to the Pine Barrens, never to be heard from again. I nodded and was about to explain that we'd already figured that out without anyone ever telling us…well until now.

"We'd never…" I started.

"I'm not talking about the obvious. That's a given. I don't want to hear you gossiping about her, judging her and in no uncertain terms manhandling her. She is Ranger's woman and is off-limits to you in _any _way. Got it?"

I nodded and looked over at Chet. He seemed almost paralyzed by Tank's words and unable to speak.

Yeah I had it. DO NOT TOUCH. I didn't take a genius to figure that out.

I'd developed a quasi-friendship with Steph and I wanted Tank to know that if I just started ignoring her, she'd catch on that something was up.

I tried again, "Some of us are friends with Steph inside and outside of work, she'd be really hurt if those friendships just stopped. I promise no gossiping, no judging and never any manhandling, but I'm not going to stop talking to her altogether. She stops by to see me all the time. I mean after all, my cube is right in front of her favorite hang out."

He nodded once as if he understood, but didn't say anything. He looked over at Chet to see if he had anything to add. When Chet finally looked up and met his eyes Tank just barked out, "You're dismissed. I expect you to heed my warning."

_**Lester's POV**_

We had picked up Stephanie and were almost at the Teeze when I got a call from Tank. We were all in one car so I could either ignore our second in command or drop Steph and Cal off and head back to Haywood. I was pretty sure they would be stranded if I chose the later because I knew Tank would either give me a bullshit job to do or he'd keep a close eye on me. I decided to take my chances and ignore his twenty-minute order. Rangeman was only five minutes away and after all, how long could it take to do a leg waxing? Besides, I really wanted to meet Angelique and whoever else was in the back room at four o'clock.

Per Cal's instructions I took the alley behind the club and parked in the back. He rapped on the back door and a few seconds later a pretty Latina woman with light-brown hair and dark knowing eyes opened the door. She wrapped her arms around Cal and gave him a big kiss. He picked her up and swung her around a bit before depositing her back on the floor.

"Angelique this is Stephanie Plum and this is Lester Santos. Guys, this is Angelique Moreno; stage name Angelica."

She seemed really friendly and ushered us into a back room. There was a massage table set up and next to it on a small table was a pot of hot wax, pre-cut strips of muslin, baby lotion and baby powder.

I noticed a folding chair set away from the central area; on it was a textbook, broken open to mark a page. I picked up the book and used my finger as a bookmark. _Scientific Integrity_; hmmm. I noted areas highlighted in bilious yellow, then I saw the highlighter and a mechanical pencil on the floor next to the chair.

"Scientific Integrity?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's mine," Angelique said. "I was studying."

"Where are you going?" I asked, expecting to hear she was taking night courses somewhere.

"Temple University, I'm working on my Ph.D."

"In what?"

"Cellular Bioscience, I plan on going into research," she said, turning around to put a fresh piece of paper onto the massage table. "I do this to pay the bills. Stephanie, do you want to change? I have a robe behind the door." And then turning to us she said, "You guys can wait outside, this will take about fifteen minutes."

"Can I take this with me?" I asked, motioning to her textbook. "I won't lose your page."

"Be my guest," she replied looking at me a little strangely.

We seated ourselves in two of the mismatched molded plastic chairs that were outside of the backroom and I began thumbing through Angelique's textbook. It wasn't really over my head, but it focused on things I'd never considered before. Obviously their _full disclosure_ was different from our _full disclosure_, yet they were the same words. Theirs measures the reliability of data and ours involves physical force if necessary. Interesting.

I was still reading through some pages when Angelique opened the door and stuck her head out.

"Cal can you help me for a minute. Stephanie has very sensitive skin and my technique is irritating her. You have a gentle touch. She said it's ok."

I got up to follow, but Angelique put her hand on my shoulder to seat me back down.

"Just Cal."

I gave her one of those looks that usually have women falling all over me, but it didn't seem to have any effect on her. I hoped I wasn't losing my touch. I sat back down and had opened her textbook to another section, _The Properties of Scientific Inquiry_,when a tall blonde with huge breasts, wearing shorts and a T-shirt walked in the back door and stopped in front of me.

"I'm Sunny, who are you?"

"I'm sorry…" I started, but she interrupted me.

"No you're not. Now let's start again. Hi. I'm Sunny."

"Lester Santos. Pleased to meet you," I said standing up and extending my hand.

She was pretty, even without makeup and almost as tall as me. She had this sexy drawl to her voice. I could have listened to her all day. Make that all night.

"Texas?" I asked.

"Austin."

"Newark," I said back to her.

"_Newark, Texas_?"

"New Jersey."

"Do you go to school with Angelique?" she asked looking at the book in my hand.

"No I work with Cal. He and Angelique are..."

"Calvin's here? Ohmigod where is he?"

"He's in the back room with Angelique-they're um waxing a friend of ours."

"Male?" she asked.

"No female."

With that she knocked on the door. "Cal? It's Sunny."

A few seconds later the door flew open and a big arm came out. It reached for her and pulled her inside.

Shit. I must be doing something wrong.

_**Cal's POV**_

I heard Sunny's voice outside the door talking to Lester. I knew it would only be a few minutes until she figured out I was here.

Yep, there was the knock on the door.

I pulled her inside for a hug and shut the door behind us.

"Calvin, how are you?" she asked as big, bold and Texan as ever once she broke free of my embrace.

"I'm good. Sunny this is Stephanie. Steph this is Sunny. Stage name Sonja."

"Well Sonja's my real name too; I just never use it. Nice to meet you Steph. "Calvin, what are you _doing_ here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm waxing."

"We ask you to come back and visit, but you're always too busy and now you're here with a strip of muslin in your hands? Son of a bitch."

I decided to change the subject before this got out of hand.

"Listen, let me finish up Stephanie and we can catch up. Why don't you sit outside with Lester? You met him right?"

Suddenly I heard a high-pitched voice making a bit of a commotion outside the door. I figured it was Merry. She was very touchy about men in her space. Obviously she'd just encountered Lester sitting on one of 'her' chairs. I was grinning to myself as I applied a thin coat of wax to Steph's calf. Sunny, who hadn't had a chance to head back out yet, caught my eye.

"Do you want to go out there Cal? She'll calm down if she sees you."

"Lester can deal with her. It'll be good for his ego." And I laughed.

Another yelp came from outside so after ripping off the strip I just applied, I opened the door to get the situation under control.

"Merry?"

"Cal! What are you doing here? Is _this_ a friend of yours?"

"He is. Merry meet Lester Santos. Lester this is Merry Crislis."

"Merry _Christmas_? No shit. Is that _really_ your name?"

"Meredith Crislis, asshole."

Oh boy. This was not going to turn out well.

"Merry come here for a hug," I said hoping to disarm her. "It's been a long time."

I picked her up and swung her around. Merry was one of my favorites. She didn't take shit from anyone. I put her down and whispered in her ear.

"Les is a good guy, but you can treat him the way you treat the 'horns' if you want. He'll probably like it."

"Hey douche," she said, looking at Lester, "you're sitting in my chair."

"Sorry," he said, getting up and moving to the other.

"Asswipe, that's mine too. Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners? Goddamn fucking horns."

Lester was looking a little perturbed so I winked at Merry before it went on too long. She wouldn't back down otherwise.

A smile finally came to her face and she extended her hand to Les.

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Santos."

"I'm not so sure I should take that; you'll probably break mine."

"Just playing with ya. Cal, tell him who I am."

"She's a force to be reckoned with. Some customers come in just for the abuse she doles out to them. But if she's called it a truce, you have her word. You can shake. I have to get back to Stephanie; we'll be done in five. Play nice."

I heard both Sunny and Merry's voices still outside as I put some baby oil on my hand and rubbed the extra wax off of Steph's legs. Maybe Les would get a phone number after all.

It was time to either move on to the bikini area or let Angelique do it. I didn't want to embarrass Steph; but I didn't want her red and raw either.

"Steph, your call," I said. "I'm done with your legs, do you want Angelique back?"

"No offense, but you're much gentler, can you finish?"

"You sure?"

She just nodded.

Three strips later, I was done. I thought I did a good job, but didn't want to spend too much time in that area in case Ranger somehow found out. I let Angelique do the cleanup while I went outside to see if peace still reigned.


	9. Chapter 9

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :) And thank you too for pushing me to write about some of the things we all wanted answers to :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 9

_**Slick's POV**_

Our flight was scheduled to take off at 10 am. Knowing Ranger, anyone who wasn't there by ten on the nose would have to figure out his own transportation. Because this was a given, we planned to meet our plane at Trenton/Mercer at 9:30. Junior, Hector and I had persuaded Hal to drive us.

We weren't sure how Steph was getting to the airport but we made the assumption that Ranger would take care of her transportation so we didn't include her in our plan. As we pulled up to corporate aviation I saw a Citation sitting on the tarmac and pointed it out to Hal. Chances were pretty good it was our NetJets flight.

As we drove towards it, I noticed Ranger's turbo at the gate. It looked like it was waiting for one of the guys to come, pick it up and flatbed it back to Rangeman. Obviously Ranger—and I assumed Steph—was already there.

Hal let us out and we sauntered over. We gave our bags to the solitary flight attendant and climbed the stairs into the corporate jet.

Ranger was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs that had been rotated to face forward and form a quasi-couch. His laptop was plugged in and running. My guess was he'd been here for at least an hour.

"Steph in the bathroom?" Junior asked once everyone got comfortable.

"She's not here yet. I thought she was coming with you."

Shit.

I saw Hector pull out his phone and start to text. I guessed he was trying to find out where Steph was.

"Chica's still waiting for a cab to come and get her. She said she just called again and they told her 'ten minutes'," he relayed to us.

"See if you can intercept Hal," Ranger said when he heard the news. "Instead of going back to Rangeman, ask him to head to Steph's and bring her here. And maybe someone can cancel that cab."

I pulled out my phone and placed a call to the main desk. Benny told me that he'd authorized _The Yellow Taxi_ to pick her up. I looked over at Hector who gave me a heads up that he got through to Hal and then I asked Benny to cancel the car.

It would be interesting to see if Ranger would wait the plane or if he'd make Steph fly commercial. I knew if it were me, I wouldn't even be thinking about it. I'd be calling every airline in Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania trying to get on a flight. If he did that to Steph, he was a piece of shit in my book.

I tried to make myself look comfortable. I was watching the time closely on my iPhone. Like I figured, 10 am came and went and we were still on the ground. Obviously his by-the-book bullshit didn't hold true for Stephanie. It made me smile. Perhaps he wasn't as much of a hard ass as I took him to be. Well at least as far as Stephanie was concerned.

At twelve after ten I saw Hal's black Explorer pull up to he tarmac. In fact it drove right onto it. Steph got out in a hurry and Hal opened the driver's door to help her. He grabbed her bag from the back well and handed it over to her. I noticed the plane start to come alive even before she hit the stairs.

"Sorry," she said coming aboard breathlessly. "Hal was my savior. The cab company didn't have a car for an airport run. I was just about to call my dad when Hal showed up."

"Babe?" Ranger asked, getting up and walking over to her, "What happened?"

"What do you mean _what happened_? I was following Rangeman protocol. Benny gave me a voucher number and I called _The Yellow Taxi_ at 8 am. They promised me a car by 9:15 for a 9:45 arrival time. No one ever showed."

He pulled her into his arms and held her, kissing her on the top of her head. I saw the tension leave her body and then she smiled at Ranger. Interesting dynamic, the Big Bad Wolf calms Little Red Riding Hood.

_**Junior's POV**_

I was pretending to be reading the _New York Times_ on my iPad, but in reality I was watching Ranger and Stephanie. After he seemed to soothe her by pressing his lips to her head, he ushered her to the seat next to him and helped buckle her in for takeoff. I couldn't help but notice that he kept reaching over to touch her and whisper things in her ear that made her laugh. _Was this really my boss?_

I went back to reading the _Times_, but occasionally raised my eyes to see what they were up to. At one point I caught him bringing her hand to his lips and at another she had her head on his shoulder and they were leaning into each other. He either had really good seduction skills or they were already lovers despite what I'd heard to the contrary. Slick told me about his conversation with Hal and about the rings from Roebling's. It all seemed weird to me, especially the rings, and I sided with Eric in my evaluation of Ranger. Something was majorly off with him socially.

I just happened to look over again and he put his hand to her chin to bring her face closer to his. Shit. I'd never even attempt that with a woman I wasn't going to try to kiss. Then I turned my head away as his lips came crashing down on hers. Oh shit. I felt like I was interfering with a private moment.

"Ranger?" I heard her say.

"Shh, Babe, want to go in the back and talk?"

Talk? Fucking shit they were going to _talk_.

She nodded to him and he took her hand and led her into the back, um, _private _area of the plane. I am not a voyeur. And I do not get off on watching other people, but the two of them bring out something in me that just makes me want to know a little more.

"Junior," Slick stage-whispered to me after they left. I looked up and he gave me one of those 'see what I mean' looks.

Hector looked up from his laptop at Slick's call for my attention. His eyes scanned the plane quickly.

"It's not _that_ private back there," he said nodding towards the back, "but it looks like we won't have to execute Santos' plan after all. Too bad…I was looking forward to trying out the apps I downloaded. I wonder what happened to change her mind?"

"_He's_ what happened," I said. "He's got _some_ style. Were you watching?"

"No, I was too busy aging this photo of Darcy McCall. I spent the night on the CIA's intranet and _borrowed_ a few programs. I think I have some good composites to show us a number of possibilities of how she may look now."

"You were working this whole time?" I asked.

"Isn't that what we get paid to do?"

_**Hector's POV**_

I gathered Junior and Slick spent the plane ride ogling Ranger's style. Not something I would do, but hey, to each his own. And if I had to go there, I'd probably be ogling Ranger instead. He has a beautiful body and knows how to put himself together. Shit, I needed to get my mind out of the gutter or I wouldn't have a job anymore. This is why I put all my efforts into work.

I've been gay my whole life. I knew you didn't go after straight men, well unless they were heteroflexible, which I assumed a couple of the guys at Rangeman were. Ranger did not appear to be one of them.

I went back to the CIA program I had been fucking around with to take another look at aging the McCall kid. Let Slick and Junior play out their fantasies, if that's what they were doing.

I couldn't keep my mind on the program. Why did I have to listen to Slick and lose my concentration?

I got up and went to the bathroom, then I stuck my head into the cockpit to say hello to Argo. He was one of our regular pilots and I'd seen him at one or two of the clubs I frequent in Manhattan. If he was staying on in Miami for a few days, maybe we could have dinner together one night.

"Staying on man?" I asked, seemingly innocently.

"Yeah. I have a few days off. Thought I'd check out the clubs. Jim will take the plane back to Trenton and I'll fly commercial on Saturday. You here on business?"

"I am. But I've been working while the other guys have been checking out our boss, so I should have some downtime. You up for some dinner?"

"Checking out your boss? He's not gay." As I said, it takes a gay guy to really know another.

"No, he's not, but they seem to like his seduction techniques. He and Stephanie went back to the baggage stow and they seem to be fantasizing about what they are doing in there."

"If you really want to know, I can turn the camera on."

"I don't want to know. Leave them alone," I said giving Argo my Rangeman business card. It was less of an afterthought than I made it seem. "My cell's on here. Call me when you figure out your schedule."

I left the cockpit pleased. I had been hoping for an opportunity to see Argo on a more personal level. I wasn't sure if our dinner would lead to anything, but we could always go clubbing afterwards and pick up other men. That is, if nothing sparked between us.

That taken care of, I went back to my laptop. Hopefully this time I could concentrate on the task at hand.

When I got back to my seat Ranger and Steph were buckled in. Neither looked overly flushed, but Steph's lips were a little puffy. Obviously they'd spent some of their time in the back kissing. Good. Maybe that would lead to other things. Ranger needed a release. He was just too wired lately. Not that he'd ever taken it out on me, but I'd seen first-hand with Lester just what he was capable of doing when provoked.

Ok, enough about them. A missing kid needed my skills and I needed to focus. I lost myself in the CIA program for the rest of the flight and had another variation to add to the mix.

Once we touched down in Miami I half-expected us to go to Rangeman and regroup for another briefing where I'd be asked to hand out my aging sketches. Obviously that wasn't the plan. I saw four cars sitting by the tarmac as we taxied to a stop. The Cayenne was obviously for Ranger and Explorers were for us. We were all staying, well except for Ranger and Stephanie, in motels around the Miami area so transportation was imperative. My motel was in Tamiami and I had directions to it from Rangeman, not that I couldn't figure out how to get there from the airport. As I like to say, even the best-laid plans aren't fail safe.

Before we were even out of the plane I had altered my course to the motel using my phone's GPS. If these were Rangeman issued cars, which I assumed they were, they'd all come equipped with the built in apps I'd created so all I had to do was drop my phone into the well on the dash and all information would automatically be transferred to the vehicle. Sometimes it paid to be the tech guy.

"Let's meet back at Rangeman at 1500 hours. That should give you enough time to check into your motels and get a general feeling for the roads here," Ranger said as we walked from the plane to the parked vehicles. "Keys should be under your visors."

It didn't matter to me which car I took, they were all the same anyway, so I let Slick and Junior choose first. While I was waiting for them to get into their vehicles so I could get to mine, which was parked behind them, Ranger jogged over.

"Hector, can you meet with Steph and I for about fifteen minutes before the three o'clock? I'd like Silvio to join us too."

"Sure boss. I'll be there by two-thirty." Obviously there was more than one thing on his mind.

_**Ranger's POV**_

Seeing Stephanie come aboard, obviously agitated, made me angry. I knew I had the ability to calm her, so I got up, wrapped my arms around her and held my lips to her head until her rate of breathing matched mine. When I was satisfied that she was feeling better, I kissed her head once more and ushered her over to the seat next to me.

I realized some of my men were watching. There was nothing I could do about that right now.

After I got her to breathe with me, we were pretty much on the same plane. There were things I hadn't said to her last night that were still bothering me. When I brought my lips down on hers in a kiss I couldn't deny myself, I felt her body tighten. I knew she enjoyed the chemistry that happened between us, but I wasn't sure if she'd stick around for anything else. I'd have to bare my soul for more. Shit. Yes. I wanted it that badly.

"Let's go in the back and talk Babe," I suggested so my life wouldn't be on full display to a handful of my men. I also wanted Stephanie to be at ease and right now she was tensing up again.

"Ok," she nodded.

I took her by her hand and led her to the back of the plane. The baggage stow wasn't very full and the suitcases that were there made decent makeshift chairs. I wanted to calm her again by getting her to breathe with me, but she seemed to want to keep some distance. Obviously I had some explaining to do. We sat down on top of Steph's suitcase but then she squirmed a little, as if in pain.

"Babe, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing."

"Nothing doesn't hurt; what's up?"

"I got my legs and bikini area waxed yesterday and I guess I'm still a little irritated. My jeans just um, rubbed against me when I sat down. Like I said, it's nothing."

She moved again and winced.

"Babe, do you need me to put some aloe gel on you?"

"No I'm good. Maybe Cal was a little over enthusiastic," she mumbled the end of her sentence.

"Cal?" I asked, only one Cal coming to mind.

"It's nothing, Ranger. Drop it."

I didn't want to have a disagreement with her, but if the only Cal I could think of hurt her in any way, he was a dead man.

"Our Cal?" I asked again.

I knew she wouldn't purposely lie to me, but she might withhold information if it meant a friend of hers being saved either embarrassment or pain.

It took her a few seconds to decide whether to come clean or not.

"It's like this Ranger," she started, finally telling me the whole story. "Don't hurt him," she said in conclusion, "he was only being a good friend."

"A good friend doesn't subject you to pain."

"I'm not in pain."

Well what do you call that then?"

"Discomfort."

"A good friend doesn't cause discomfort."

"Ranger, drop it, ok? If you hurt Cal, I'm out of here. Got that?"

I stopped short. I knew she meant it and that was the last thing I wanted right now.

"Sorry Babe, I didn't..."

"It was just a waxing Ranger. No harm meant, now can we go back to the others?"

"Two minutes. I have something to say."

"Clock's ticking."

"If I only have two minutes, I have three words. I love you Babe,"

"That's four."

"Stephanie, please," I added knowing the power of that word. "No bullshit. No qualifiers. Just four words: I love you."

"That's three."

And then she looked at me. "I love you too Ranger."

My lips met hers.


	10. Chapter 10

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 10

_**Ranger POV**_

After I gave my men some time off to check into their motels and situate themselves, I wondered if I should try to talk to Stephanie again. Obviously we didn't get very far because I got sidetracked when I found out about Cal's extracurricular activities.

"Babe would you like to go to lunch?" I asked her once we were in the car.

"Um where do you want to go? No healthy stuff ok?"

"I know a place by the water that you'll like. Game?"

"Sure Batman but you better not be tricking me into eating twigs and bark."

"Babe."

I knew the chef/owner of De Rodriguez Cuba and I knew he'd make us _anything_ if Steph didn't find something to her liking on the menu. I recently discovered that she liked tres leches cake and they made a really good _quarto _leches there. A little too sweet for my taste, but I was sure she'd love it.

So instead of heading straight to Rangeman where she'd be confronted with my apartment…and its _bedrooms_, I headed to South Beach's 'South of Fifth' neighborhood.

I used the car's hands-free device to give Douglas a call on the way. His restaurant is a pretty popular place, even at lunch, and I wanted to make sure we'd be able to be seated. I looked up after disconnecting to see Stephanie texting away.

"Business or pleasure?" I asked her.

"I guess it's a little of both. I wanted to let Les know that I told you about Cal. This way in case he goes _missing_ we'll know not to look any further than our own front door."

"Babe. I gave you my word and I wouldn't go back on that. Although I can't say I one hundred percent approve."

"See, there you go judging again."

"Judging? Explain that one to me."

"What if you were desperate to get your legs waxed and were told you couldn't get an appointment until three days _after_ you had to be somewhere. What would you do?"

"I'd call someplace else."

"I have sensitive skin. I can't just go to _anyone_."

"So now you're telling me that Cal's an expert with sensitive skin, yet you got butchered?"

"I didn't get butchered. I'm just a little irritated and that will be gone by tomorrow. Let's just drop it Ranger. Obviously you don't understand."

Somehow I just kept getting myself into deeper and deeper shit with her. Maybe she had a point. Maybe I wasn't as flexible as I thought I was.

"Sorry Babe. I guess I don't."

"See. You just admitted it. Why can't you be like this more often? You know you're not always right Batman."

"I'm sorry Babe. Friends?"

"I hope not. After all you've just told me, if we're only_ friends_, I'm fucked for life."

"I'm hoping you're fucked for life, but not in the way you're intimating."

"Ranger!"

I was glad I got her to smile again. I'd have to make a point of trying to be a little more open and a lot less judgmental.

It amuses me that Stephanie thinks I magically make parking spaces appear and today was no exception. Just as I turned the corner to Douglas' restaurant I noticed a car pull away from the curb in front. I backed in as Steph looked up.

"You have to teach me how you do this."

"Positive thinking."

"Bullshit. What do you do; call ahead and ask God to reserve a spot for you?"

"I don't have _those_ kind of connections Babe. Although sometimes I wish I did."

I helped her out of the Cayenne and as we walked to the entrance of the restaurant Douglas came out the front door.

"Carlos. It's been a long time."

We greeted each other with an embrace and then I introduced Stephanie.

"Douglas. This is Stephanie Plum. Babe, this is Douglas Rodriguez, the chef and owner of this great establishment."

I put an arm around Steph and gave her a kiss to the top of her head. I was hoping it was enough of a gesture to let him know that she was mine.

"Nice to meet you," Steph said, best 'Burg manners in place. "Ranger, um, _Carlos_ raved about your restaurant. And I'm hungry."

"Well I hope you won't be disappointed. Carlos called ahead and asked if we had any tres leches cake today. No tres leches but I have a quarto leches?"

"What's the other leche?"

"Dulce de leche. _Caramel_. Just don't tell _him_. It'll be our secret."

I could see that Steph liked him already. I was glad. It was always interesting to see how she'd react to friends of mine that weren't part of Rangeman.

We were seated at a table in the back. I didn't even have to ask. It made me chuckle to myself that he remembered after all this time.

"Wine with lunch, Mr. Manoso?" the waiter said, coming over with menus.

"Babe?"

"Aren't we working this afternoon?"

"We are, but if you wanted some wine we could bend the rules." I said thinking once again about my usual rigidity.

"No, I'm good. I'll have water. I'd hate for people to think I get special treatment."

"Just water," I told the waiter, who nodded and walked over to his station to get it.

I ordered a tomato and avocado salad along with their turkey club sandwich, no bacon. Stephanie had the churrasco with steak frites and as I expected, no salad.

I knew we'd have a bit of a wait since Douglas would personally make our meals but it would be a good opportunity to talk with Steph.

"Babe, I'd like to clear the air," I started.

"I though we did that last night."

"I have more to say."

"You asked me if you'd said enough and I nodded. I don't need to rehash _everything_. I just want to know the truth."

"This pertains to the truth."

"Did you _lie_ to me Ranger?"

"No never. But I've said things I _believed_ to be true at the time. And I'm sorry for more than the short list I gave you yesterday."

"Is there something specific you're trying to get out?" she asked.

"Remember Hawaii?"

"How can I ever forget it? Oh God. You and Joe throwing punches at each other; if I didn't step in someone could have gotten killed."

And it wouldn't have been me, I thought.

"I was thinking _before_ he arrived…"

"When we were playing house…"

"If you want to call it that, yes. Listen. I know I went off at one point about my 'no relationships rule' but I really enjoyed the time together. It was special Stephanie. I'd like to try that with you again."

"You want to go back to Hawaii?"

"It doesn't have to be Hawaii, but a few days away from Trenton with you would be nice. Would you be open to taking a vacation with me?"

"You never take vacations Ranger," she said, pointing out my obvious obsession with work.

"I do now."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like I need to make it up to you."

"When?"

"After this job is over."

"I don't know Ranger. Let's see how these next few weeks go. I love you but I don't even know if we're compatible for more than a few days at a time."

"Fair," I said feeling majorly slighted. Then I had an idea.

"Would you be open to going out with me while we're here. Dinner? Dancing? Catamaran?"

"Catamaran?"

"I have a boat in dry dock. No one's used it since I spent five months down here building Rangeman Miami. I can easily get it out, have it overhauled and lease a slip."

"Do you think Rachel and Ron would let Julie come with us?"

I was hoping for some romantic catamaran rides with Stephanie, but if this all hinged on Julie coming along, I was pretty sure I could make that happen.

"I can ask them. Julie's been out on the boat with me before. She's quite an accomplished sailor and she loves the water."

"I would like that."

"So you'll go out with me?" I asked hopeful and questioningly.

"Yes Batman, I'll go out with you."

I took her hand and brought it to my lips.

"But we're down here to do a job. That comes first," she said, breaking into my thoughts and qualifying her 'yes'.

"Normally I would say 'always' Babe, but we have quite a number of capable men on the job. I think I'd like to take a back seat with you on this one. And besides I need your help on another Rangeman project. I was going to brief you, Hector and Silvio at two forty-five."

Thankfully before I had to go into details that I didn't want to share here, our food arrived.

"Oh my God Batman, this is so good," she said after taking a bite and letting out a particularly sexy-sounding moan.

_**Slick's POV**_

Once we landed in Miami, Ranger pointed us in the direction of our cars and sent us to check into our motels. I was glad for a little break; it would allow me to re-read the briefing materials that I neglected on the flight. At the time I was too distracted by my boss and the Bomber.

I found the motel pretty easily using the GPS on my phone. It was just south of Miami and kind of nice for a motel. There was a pool and an exercise room with semi-decent equipment. At least I could get a workout in and go for runs in the morning.

I checked in, then checked out the room. It was facing the pool, which wasn't optimum if I wanted to get a good night's sleep. Hopefully there was a curfew. I opened the blinds and looked out. There was no one in the pool, but a nice-looking blonde was sitting in one of the lounge chairs reading a book. She seemed to be alone and wasn't wearing a ring on her left hand. I decided a swim might be in order. I changed into my board shorts and flip-flops, grabbed my files and a towel and I headed out.

"Can I leave my stuff here?" I asked her, putting my towel and files down on a chair two over from her.

"No one's here but me and I'd like to think I'm trustworthy."

"Good to know," I said and smiled at her. "Just want to get a swim in before I have to go to work."

"Mind if I join you? It's getting kind of hot."

"Be my guest, but I have to warn you, I'm going for a hundred laps."

"Race you," she said breaking the spine of her book to lay open then taking a running dive into the pool.

She didn't look overly athletic, so I assumed she'd probably only be able to keep up with me for a few laps. I guessed wrong. At forty laps she was still going strong.

"Pretty good," I said to her. "Mind if I ask what you do for a living?"

"Talk later. You said a hundred laps."

"How about fifty and then well talk?"

"You have a deal, mister."

"Call me Slick."

"Slick? Is that your name?"

"More or less."

"Michelle," she said, diving under for another lap.

At fifty laps neither of us were tired. I could have very easily gone for another fifty and Michelle looked like she'd be able to keep up with me.

We got out of the pool together. I picked up her towel and put it over her shoulders so she could dry off.

"You're some athlete," she said looking at me. "Olympic hopeful?"

"Security expert. Our boss expects us to be in tip-top shape. I work out a number of hours every day. You?"

"Advertising creative director. I expect the same from myself. The body feeds the mind."

I liked her.

"So what are you doing in a motel in Florida?" I asked, hoping she wasn't rendezvousing with a boyfriend.

"I'm shooting a TV commercial tomorrow. I decided last minute that the art director who created the spot was too junior. If we didn't want to lose a client, I had to come down myself. They are all booked at the Tides in South Beach. Been there, done that. I wanted a little obscurity. Tell me about you."

"I'm not that interesting."

"Oh I think you are. New York?"

"New Jersey."

"Where?"

"Paterson."

"I'm from Little Falls."

Shit. She _had_ to be from my dad's town. My parent's got divorced when I was five. Mom went back to Paterson with me and my sister and dad stayed in Little Falls. I wasn't going to ask her if she knew my dad, my aunts or my grandmother…well at least not yet.

"We seem to have a lot in common. I have to study this document and head into our Miami office for a few hours. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"You really are slick aren't you?"

"Sorry. I hope I didn't come off like that. It's just a nickname that somehow stuck. I used to play poker."

"Used to?"

"Well if there was a game with some of the guys from work, I'd probably still play, but I don't go out of my way to find poker games anymore. I'd really like to have dinner with you Michelle…unless you have other plans."

"Tell me your given name. I'm not sure I can call you _Slick_."

"It's Shaun."

"Much better. Do you need help studying?"

"Unfortunately it's classified."

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to pry."

"It's ok, but you never answered me. Dinner?"

"Sure."

I had my phone with me, so once she went back to her book and I looked through the dossier I had been handed, I checked online for a nice restaurant in the area.

"Italian, Michelle?" I asked, seeing a few listings with good reviews.

"No. I'm a mutt. French, Swedish and German."

"I meant for dinner."

"Sure. Anything is fine."

"Il Gabbiano got a good review."

"I doubt you'll be able to get a last minute reservation there."

"I'm pretty sure my office has some pull. Say eight o'clock?"

"Ok. Want me to meet you there?"

"I'll pick you up. Meet me in the lobby at seven-thirty?"

"Ok _Slick_."

"Shaun. And now I really do have to head in to work. See you at seven-thirty."

I would have liked to have kissed her. I knew that would send out the wrong message so I simply touched her hand instead. I'd ask Silvio to help me secure a reservation; I was pretty sure Rangeman Miami had as much clout as Trenton, if not more. I wasn't hoping for sex tonight, women like her just didn't give that away, but she was very attractive and seeing her again would be nice.

_**Lester's POV**_

After I got the text from Stephanie that Ranger knew all about Cal's extracurricular activities I got a little nervous about repercussions. So being who I was, I got up and walked over to Tank's office to talk.

"Santos, what are you up to?" Tank asked, seeing right through me.

"I'm trying to get a feel as to whether or not there's a hit out on Cal."

"You tell me. Why would there be?"

"Seems like Ranger knows about the waxing. Thought he might not have taken it very well."

"He hasn't spoken to me about it and we don't treat our employees like that or you'd have been offed a long time ago."

"Love you too, big guy," I said knowing I'd be one of the few to get away it. Then I turned and walked back towards my office.

"Santos."

I turned to look at him.

"Did you hear that from Steph?"

"Yeah, she just texted me."

"Everything ok down there?"

"She said she was having lunch with Ranger, if that's what you mean."

A big smile appeared on Tank's face. "That's what I like to hear."


	11. Chapter 11

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 11

_**Binkie's POV**_

I had just gotten off rotation with Jamie. I'd been asked to teach him the ropes this week. He seemed to be catching on slower than most and I was trying to make it easy for him. I remembered my first few weeks here where I shadowed first Lester and then Hector. If it weren't for Hector taking the time to carefully explain the 'whys' to me, I would have quit. I wanted to give Jamie that same push in the right direction.

"Early on, Hector showed me how to quickly disengage an alarm," I said to him in the break room. "It's not anything you'd learn in a book, but because of his electrical background he knew how to reverse polarity. It's a lot easier than locating the transformer, removing the battery and then shutting off the circuit breaker in an emergency. We still have to physically reset it, but that's after we assess the situation. Who wants to figure out if there was a break in or if the owner just forgot the alarm was set with that thing blaring away? See what I mean?"

He was looking at me with glazed-over eyes and I wasn't sure how to remedy _that_ situation.

"Want to go out for a beer? I promise no shop talk," I tried instead.

His scowl turned into a small smile. "Thank you. Yes."

"We can go to Pinos. They have a number of different kinds of brewskis and we can get pizza to go with them. I think Les and Cal would be up for an evening out too. Want me to make a call?"

"I think I fucked up with Les and he's spread the word."

"What do you mean fucked up?" I asked before I sent the text.

"I was on rotation with Hal when the call came in that Steph's car caught fire."

"You mean _blew up_."

"Yeah, that's what I mean."

"We were at the site when first Ranger and then Lester arrived. Ranger was comforting Stephanie and Lester looked like he was about to leave when that cop showed up. Maretti?"

"Morelli."

"Whatever. I got the feeling Lester wasn't happy that we didn't make the whole thing go away before he appeared. I was just following Hal's lead, but he threw daggers my way anyway."

"You have to understand this; Steph's cars blow up all the time. We have an SOP in effect when one of those calls comes in. Get there _fast_. Make sure Steph is ok. If she needs any medical assistance, call Bobby. She _hates_ hospitals. And if Ranger is in town, he needs to know about it."

"We did all that. I was relaying information back to Tank when I got the evil eye from him."

"I have a feeling it was all a misunderstanding and Les' evil eye was meant for Morelli. He _really_ dislikes him and would probably tear him limb from limb with his teeth if he could get away with it. Let me text Les and see what he says. I bet they'll agree to join us."

"Ok. I guess I can try to clear the air with him."

"I'm telling you man, that won't be necessary. I'm sure his 'you're a dead man' look was meant for the cop."

I texted Santos first…I knew he and Cal had just gotten off rotation too. Today we were on the same schedule. He agreed immediately and since Cal was with him in the garage I only needed to text once. The four of us would meet at Pinos at six-thirty.

I was glad Jamie was amenable to beer and pizza with Les and Cal. Although on the surface he and Cal were very different, I believed they were more similar than they seemed. Yeah, I always knew Cal could go either way sexually but was more heteroflexible than homoflexible and I was pretty sure from watching him this week that Jamie was too. Not that I cared particularly and I was_ so NOT_ trying to hook them up with each other.

Lots of people thought I was gay because of my nickname, but I'm as straight as they come. I can't help that my last name is Binkowski, but I could have dissuaded people from calling me Binkie. I never did. I guessed I liked the attention…although, thankfully, most of the _women_ I know call me Jason. That's my given name and except for Stephanie I prefer being called that by the opposite sex. Somehow screaming _Binkie_ in the throes of passion is just wrong.

I don't know how that thought popped into my head; I guessed it was from my observations earlier, but suddenly I hoped dinner and a few beers wasn't a bad idea. I shook my head to try to alter my thoughts and Jamie caught me.

"You ok man?" he asked, looking at me strangely.

"Sorry, just thinking about things I shouldn't be thinking about," I said to him honestly, although I had no plans to elaborate further. I'd let him think what he wanted.

We both went to our apartments on four to shower or whatever it was _he_ was going to do before meeting back in the garage to head over to Pinos. It was too much of a thing to organize the four of us leaving at the same time, so I just suggested to Jamie that we meet at my SUV at 6:15.

I dressed casual but nice in case we had 'visitors' at our table. Seems we always attracted a 'crowd' and depending on tonight's it might end up being a hook up for me. My motto _'always prepared' _had me slip a couple of condoms into my wallet before heading out.

Pinos was crowded, as it usually was at that hour. Jamie and I secured a table in the back and were just sitting down when Cal arrived.

"Santos said he'd be a little late, but we should order for him," he announced as he sat down.

"Tank?" I asked knowing not too much could keep Les from an evening out where there was the strong possibility of chicks showing up.

"Yeah, he caught up to him just as we were clocking out. But he texted me ten minutes ago saying he was on his way."

My phone buzzed in my pocket as he said this. I assumed it was Les telling me the same thing, but when I pulled it out to check…it was Stephanie.

I did a little double take. We weren't _that_ close where she'd just call me for a 'how ya doing', so something must be up.

"Bomber?" I answered calling her by Tank's pet name for her.

"Sorry Binkie, I called the office looking for Les, but Hal told me he left to have beers with you and Jamie. Is he there? He's not picking up his phone."

"No he's not, but we just sat down. He should be here any minute. Want me to have him call you?"

"No, that's not necess…yeah, ask him to call me."

_**Silvio's POV**_

I knew that Ranger was coming down to Miami for one of his 'make sure the office is running smoothly' visits. I didn't know that Stephanie and Hector would be coming with him. And I didn't know that I would be called into a meeting with the three of them to be briefed on a new job.

The briefing was only scheduled for fifteen minutes so I assumed I'd just be needed to run some searches; what I learned in the meeting surprised me. I was going undercover. I guessed being the only Rangeman employee that had prematurely white head and facial hair had some advantages. Or disadvantages as the case may be.

"Thank you for joining me this afternoon on such short notice," Ranger said after we caught up. "We've been asked to help apprehend a serial rapist. Miami PD has their hands full and gave us our head on this job. My take is they are at a loss on how to find him and think our ability to track and uncover people is better than theirs. We don't have much to go on. Some matching descriptions from a few of his victims and an artist's sketch but that's about it.

"Oh and two of the victims were abducted outside of two different bingo halls. Apparently the surroundings are familiar to him. Silvio, this is where you come in. I'd like for you assume the part of a widower looking to meet women. Frequent bingo halls in the Miami area and observe any suspicious behavior."

"He's raping older women?" I asked getting more and more pissed off at this dude.

"No all five of his victims were in their mid-thirties. The two that were grabbed outside of the bingo halls were both picking up family members. It's all we have other than the artist's sketch that I'm going to pass out now."

"I know I can pass for fifty or fifty-five, but if you want me to try for older than that you'll need to bring in a make-up artist to age me. I don't have the wrinkles, only the white hair and up close that's not going to cut it."

"I specifically thought of you because of your premature coloring. You'll be socially acceptable to the older women in the bingo parlors and quite an intrigue to the younger ones if you dress the part."

"You want me to be a gigolo?"

"You can call it that."

I had to smile at that one. Silvio Vargas: gigolo.

Then it dawned on me what was probably going on in Ranger's mind. I knew Stephanie had done distractions for Rangeman before and I wasn't a fan of putting her in harm's way. She didn't have the training we did and this was serious shit.

"Ok," I said, "I can see that I'm going to be the inside guy with all the blue-haired ladies, but if Stephanie is going to be walking around, waiting to be dragged into a car by this crazy dude, I have to put my foot down."

"Stephanie can put her own foot down," he said in retaliation. "Babe, I'm not going to ask you to do anything you're not comfortable doing, but Silvio is…"

"Of course I'll do it Ranger," she broke into his sentence. "We need to get this guy and if you want to use me as bait again, I'll do it."

"Thanks Babe, but hear me out first. Hector has a way of blending in, especially when he hides his tats…and no one is more deadly with a knife than he is. I thought if we could replicate what happened before, we might be able to lure him out in the open. Hector will have you in his sight at all times."

"I'm game," she said, "but who will I be picking up from Bingo?"

"Your husband's grandmother."

"I don't have a husband," she said to him adamantly.

"I think I neglected to mention that all of the victims were married women. That may be part of the attraction. If we want him to make another move, the closer we can come to duplicating whatever he's acting out, the greater our chances of getting him."

"As I said, I'm game," she told him.

_**Hector's POV**_

Now I knew my role too. Ranger didn't need to brief me any further. I would be Stephanie's bodyguard; a role I took seriously. ¡Que Dios ayude a ese hijo de puta si intenta lastimarla! _God help that bastard if he tries to hurt her. _I knew there would be additional details. But I also knew we were meeting in four minutes to talk about Darcy McCall, the kid from New Jersey. I could meet with Ranger later. I was good.

I silently nodded that message to him to let him know we could adjourn and let Slick, Junior and whoever else he was putting on the case enter. I knew they were all outside. The men of Rangeman were punctual.

With my nod Ranger ended the meeting and I opened the doors of the conference room to let Silvio out and the others in. I was surprised to see just Slick and Junior outside. I expected a larger contingency, especially if myself, Steph and Ranger were being taken off the case. I'd volunteer to work both.

My laptop was already set up so I just printed five copies of each of the four aging scenarios I'd come up with. Of course there could be variations on any theme, but if an exceptionally tall man was walking around Miami with a teenager that looked remotely like any of these pictures, we'd have our man.

Stephanie was being uncharacteristically quiet while we shuffled our papers and found seats. I wondered if she was disturbed by her role with the rapist or if something else was bothering her.

She leaned over to Ranger and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and she opened her laptop. I watched her gather a few notes into one word doc and hit print. She had something to contribute.

Diego Santana. That's what she had to contribute. He was the guy Governor Christie's office came up with just a few weeks ago. Stephanie pulled him from the database on Monday and was able to trace him back a number of years. Yes. _He_ was a person of interest.

"I'd like to start this meeting with an observation that Stephanie just brought up to me," Ranger said. "She just asked me 'how could this teenager be _walking_ around Miami with this this bastard? Why isn't she running? Does he have her drugged? Does he have her under some sort of mind control?'

"Good discussion points Babe. I don't have the answers, but I'd say 'not drugged' or else the woman he was trying to rent an apartment from would have noticed. Anything else I'd seriously consider, along with Stephanie's big question, _why_?"

I passed out my photos and Steph handed out copies of her search along with her list of questions and suggestions. I wasn't sure why Ranger would want to take her and I off this case; we seemed to be the only ones contributing anything. And we were all briefed at the same time.

I guess Slick saw the disapproving look on my face, or else he had been thinking about this case more than I gave him credit for because suddenly he broke into the conversation.

"I'd been thinking along the same lines as Steph," he said. "I know if I were held captive against my will, I'd scream, yell and cause a scene first chance I got. I did a little research and I _do_ think she's probably drugged.

"I was reading an article about children in foster care and something made me put two and two together. These kids especially in Texas, Florida, Oregon and Michigan are routinely given antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs in cocktail combinations that suppress the frontal lobes of the brain. This leads to indifference and apathy, which makes them docile and easy to manage. They don't appear drugged the way a sedative would make them look. Unfortunately these lethal combinations can lead to shrinkage of the brain in children that have been on them for a number of years. Among other things."

"This is Florida," Junior said, catching on quickly. "Do you think she's somehow become a ward of the state and he's made himself her legal guardian?"

"I do. I just made this correlation about an hour ago, so I haven't had a chance to go through Florida's foster care system yet, but I think that's where we should start."

It looked to me like they had an excellent lead. I guessed Stephanie and I weren't going to be needed after all.

"Here's the list of the drugs," Slick said again, taking out his iPhone and copying something from a page and sending it to us. "I think another way in is to see who may have a prescription to these drugs in combination. Of course Darcy is probably living under a fictitious name, so we'd have to conduct a door-to-door."

"I want to help," Stephanie said, looking at Ranger. "I've been doing this for a while so my instincts are pretty good and Hector loaded my laptop with the best search programs there are before we left. It won't take me away from the rapist case; I can let the searches run overnight. Please Ranger?"

"I have them on my laptop too," I said. "We can divide and conquer and that will leave Slick and Junior to just do the footwork."

"Ok, you've convinced me," Ranger said with a smile. Something told me he was feeling very proud of the whole lot of us. Good. After all, we were the best in the business.


	12. Chapter 12

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

**Beware:** This chapter has parts that are _**rude and crude**_. You _asked_ for it :) Slight smut warning!

Chapter 12

_**Lester's POV**_

When I got to Pinos, the guys had just placed our order. The waitress saw me arrive and brought over a Stella Artois, my latest favorite beer. I guess the word got around.

They let me have a long pull on my Stella before Binkie told me that Steph had called. I checked my phone and sure enough, she'd called me too. I wanted to get back to her right away in case it was important, so I excused myself and went outside.

"Beautiful, what's up?" I asked when she answered.

"Les, thanks for calling me back. Is everything ok there? Hal said you were having beers. It's only Wednesday?"

"Everything is fine. Binkie thought Jamie was going into overwhelm so he wanted to show him the _other_ side of Rangeman. Now what's up with you?"

"Ranger wants me to be bait for a rapist. And Slick just pulled a rabbit from a hat. He thinks that kid from Jersey may be under the influence of a cocktail of psychotropic drugs."

"Whoa Beautiful, lets go back to _you_ being bait. Tell me what that's all about?"

I was getting more and more pissed off that Ranger just saw her as a means to an end. Didn't that man have any ethics? Shit. He was so pissing me off.

"Don't worry Les, I agreed to this. It'll be ok. Silvio's going to be the inside guy and Hector will be watching my ass."

"Yeah and what is your boyfriend going to be doing?"

"_Morelli?_ He's not involved in this and he's _not_ my boyfriend anymore."

"I was talking about Ranger. Stephanie open your eyes. He's using you. Fuck. Who else would even think to pull this shit on you?"

"No he's not Lester. I know I told you our history, but this is different. He told me he wants to have a relationship with me and he apologized again for all the hurt he put me though and he says he wants to take me on a vacation."

"Yeah that sounds just like him. Get the woman to fall in love with you in a beautiful place then come back home and ignore her."

"I didn't agree to the vacation part Les. If we can only get along _away_ from Trenton, a relationship with him is not going to work. I do love him; you know."

"So you've said," I replied although I couldn't understand how _anyone_ could love him.

"Lester, please, drop it. I'm not a child and I don't need to be protected like one. I'll know if he's giving me a line of bullshit and right now I'm going to trust him and give him the benefit of the doubt. I was hoping you'd be happy."

"I'm happy if you're happy. Is this why you called?"

"I wanted to check up on Rex. Did you pick him up and bring him to Rangeman?"

"He's good. He and Hal are on monitor duty tonight. And Ella fed him well."

"She didn't overfeed him, did she? He can only have…"

"Don't worry Beautiful, we researched hamsters. We know what to give him and how much. He'll be fine. He's doing his male bonding thing with the guys."

"Ok Les, if you say so. I'll call you later in the week to check up on him. And if you need me, call."

"Ok beautiful, just take care of yourself."

"I will Les. Bye-ee."

I wasn't happy that she agreed to lure a rapist into the open, but I couldn't control her. No one could. Ha. Wait till Ranger finds that one out the hard way. I doubt he's yet encountered the 'immovable object' known as Stephanie Plum. She's always been a little too willing around him.

I let it drop and went back inside. If nothing else I had a date with _Stella_ this evening and my first one was getting warm.

I wasn't gone for more than ten minutes, but when I came back my seat was occupied. A huge-breasted blonde was sitting in it, giving Binkie a backrub.

"Excuse me," I said to her. "This is my seat and that's my beer you just put in your hand."

"Sorry, I came over to say hello to Jason. I wasn't going to drink this, honest. I was just going to put the cold against his back."

"I'd suggest putting it back down and vacating my seat. If you want to say hello to _Jason_, you can do that outside later. We're here for pizza and beers and _you_ were not invited."

Cal flashed me a look like 'what the fuck?' I knew what I was doing. I'd seen her around Pinos before and she was like a cat in heat. She'd still be here later waiting to rub herself against Binkie or maybe Cal or possibly even Jamie. Right now I wanted my cold one and a couple of slices with the guys. Like I told her, _she_ was not invited.

She got up from my seat, said goodbye to Binkie and left.

"That was rude," Cal said to me. "She was just being friendly."

"No. _We're_ being friendly; she was putting on a spectacle."

"Ok," he said to me, looking me over. "What got _you _so fucked up? Something going on with Stephanie?"

"Our_ boss_ has decided to use her as a lure to get a serial rapist our of hiding. He pisses me off more often than not. She could get hurt."

"Ranger only takes _calculated_ risks," Binkie said, seemingly unphased by my sending his chick away. "She'll be _over_-guarded and more than fine. What's _really_ got your ass in an uproar Santos?"

That caught me off-guard. I wasn't sure.

_**Jamie's POV**_

Watching that little 'spectacle' as Santos so appropriately called it, made me wonder about these guys. I had heard that they worked hard and played hard. And I'd also heard that Santos was the biggest ass wrangler of them all. What the fuck?

Since I didn't know them very well my mind raced to where it would go if these guys were dudes of mine back in Ohio. Obviously Santos was jealous of our boss. Shit. If what I'd heard was true, he certainly got more JJ than Ranger. You mean to say he wanted the boss' woman too? _That_ was fucked up.

Of course I wasn't going to say anything. And I didn't say anything either when that huge-breasted woman came over and started massaging Binkie. Shit.

I'd already gotten the feeling Binkie thought I might be flex. I saw him watching me check out both women and men. Sorry. Yes I like women. I'm actually more hetero than anything, but there's something about having your prostate banged that makes me rock-hard just thinking about it. Hell. If a woman learned to fuck me like that, all would be perfect in my world.

I'd also picked up that Cal lived in the same sexual netherlands that I did. I hoped this wasn't Binkie's idea of a fix up. Let me get one thing clear. I don't date men but on occasion I fuck them. Normally I wouldn't be eyeing them at all, but my body was in need of a major release. Moving to Trenton and starting a new job has been more stressful than I'd anticipated. And jacking off wasn't cutting it for me.

I didn't realize I wore my thoughts on my face. I looked up to see Cal watching me intently. I certainly wasn't going to let on what I had been thinking, so I picked up my beer and in one large swig finished its contents.

Lester got up to see what was taking our pizza so long and was stopped by a curvy redhead. My eyes were treated to something I didn't need to see right now. She put her hand directly over this cock and teased towards his ass with her middle finger. Oh God.

Suddenly I'd lost interest in our impromptu get together. I'd have another beer and some pizza when it arrived and then I'd make my way back to Rangeman. I'd come with Binkie, but I could always call a cab to take me home.

"I have my truck if you want to split," Cal said to me, reading my mind. "We don't have to stay here till they get laid," he continued, nodding in the direction of Santos and Binkie.

I was with him there. I wasn't sure if my dick could stand to see any more tits in our faces.

Somehow Santos got the redhead off of him and came back to our table.

"The pizzas will be right out," he said, then looked over at me.

"You ok?"

"Guess I'm just not used to such forward women. That was a little scary."

"She's been coming on to me for weeks. This was the first time she tried _that _shitthough. Sorry. And this is nothing; you should see what goes on at Shorty's. I guess Binkie wanted to ease you into that one."

Thank God our pizza arrived. I really didn't know how to respond to him…or any of this.

I ordered another beer and took two slices of the pepperoni. I'd had a couple of bites when the humongous-breasted blond was back. I put my slice down and looked over at Cal.

"Ready to go man?" he asked. I nodded. He called the waitress over and she put what was left of our slices into two bags. We threw some money on the table, said goodbye to Santos and Binkie and headed out to Cal's truck.

_**Cal's POV**_

I knew just what Jamie was going through. The first time I'd come to the back room of Pinos with the guys was a rude awakening for me too. Although _I_ took full advantage of it and banged one of the chicks in the men's room. I didn't think Jamie was that crude; in fact I could tell Jamie wasn't used to the underbelly of Trenton. I'd seen him eyeing Santos' ass though. Looked to me like he might be interested in something dankier than pussy tonight.

I usually like to keep my dick in my pants when it comes to fellow employees, but I knew this would just be a release for both of us. Nothing more. So as we got close to my truck I brushed against his hand so he could feel my full erection through my cargos.

"Me too man," he said.

"My place?"

"We'l be on camera."

"Not inside."

He shrugged and we both got into my pickup. I could have reached over and stroked him, but I didn't. He already knew my intentions; I needed to know his.

Instead of actions, he spoke with words. "Nothing more, ok? Just two consenting adults for the night."

"All it ever is."

The ride to Haywood was short. Neither of us said anything. In fact, I almost thought he had changed his mind. I would never force myself on anyone, male or female and if he wasn't up for a romp tonight, I was ok with that too. I could always take care of myself.

Once I fobbed us through the gate we were on camera, so we needed to be discreet. I parked in my usual spot and we both got out of my truck. I turned and spoke to him in full view of the camera that was pointed towards the elevator.

"Up for a beer?" I asked, although there was no audio on these cameras. If someone was interested enough they could read my lips.

"Sure man," he said and followed me to the elevator.

We got off on four and I led him towards my apartment. Once inside and out of the prying eye of the video we could be ourselves. It seemed like it took forever to turn the key in my lock, my dick was heavy and throbbing. I wanted him bad.

I wasn't sure how he liked it, but it looked like I'd have to be the aggressor in this case. That was fine by me; I was a natural leader.

This wasn't about romance so I didn't kiss him, but I did cup him in my hands. Like most of us built guys, he was huge. Just the way I liked it. I made my way to the bedroom, and stripped. I took the tube of lube out of my nightstand in case we'd need it.

I turned around and he was naked right behind me. He had a nice body and with all those muscles I knew we could fuck all night.

I opened the lube and put a huge handful on my dick, playing with myself as I did so. Jamie moaned, so I got my answer. I knew what he wanted. I pushed him down on the bed and lubbed up his ass with the _Wet Platinum_. He took the tube from me and coated his dick while I made short work of getting him ready.

We both had amazing stamina and recoverability and kept it up until we were satiated and spent. I wasn't sure how many hours had passed, but when I looked at my clock it was 4 am. We'd slept here and there but the amount of sleep we got wasn't enough for us to be running on all four burners. Thankfully we were on the same schedule this week and didn't need to begin our rotations until the afternoon. I'd send him home and then sleep in.

"Jamie," I said, waking him up. "You're welcome to shower here, but you might be more comfortable in your own place."

"Um yeah. What time is it?"

"It's a little after four. You ok?"

"Great man," he said smiling at me and picking up his clothes from the floor where he discarded them last night. We both got dressed and I let him out. Yeah it'd be recorded on camera but the guys regularly played poker until the early hours when they had time off. Nothing out of the norm there.

_**Junior's POV**_

Slick surprised me with his very intellectual assessment on psychotropic cocktails and Florida's foster care system. I knew he, like me, had been paying more attention to the boss and Stephanie than we were to the job at hand, so he either studied the case before we left or he had a stroke of genius in his motel room. Whatever it was, I was thoroughly impressed.

"When did you come up with that one?" I asked once we left the conference room.

"I don't know. I guess in the pool. I read all the time and I think my fifty laps with Michelle was freeing."

"Michelle?"

"She's staying at the same motel I am. I invited her out for dinner tonight."

"You are such a player _Slick_."

"She's not like that. She's smart and attractive and she was able to keep up with me. She was going for a hundred laps."

"No shit?"

"She lives in Jersey too. Well at least I think she does. She's _from_ Jersey."

"You're smitten, man. I've never seen you smitten before. Shit. You better keep your head on straight we have a job to do here. You can't let your dick lead you around."

"I'm cool and I think she's heading back after tomorrow, so it'll just be dinner tonight."

"You're pining already. This isn't good."

"Shut up Junior," he said, punching me in the shoulder and walking away.

Truthfully I'd never even heard a woman's name come out of his mouth before. Yeah I knew he had women. I figured with a nickname like Slick he had to be _slick_, but for him to even mention her to me was, how can I say…out of character.

Stephanie caught up to us at the elevator.

"You guys were great today," she said, looking from Slick to me. "Really good piece of detective work. Wished I'd come up with it."

"Not me, it was all Slick's doing. I just mentioned that this _was_ Florida and asked if he thought she might be part of the social services system here. _Which _he'd already thought about, by the way. No, give credit where credit is due."

"That's what I love about you guys," she said, "you're so _unassuming_. And you picked right up on it. Suppose Slick _didn't_ think about that angle? You guys make a great team."

"Thank you. Where are you off to?"

"Lobby. We left our bags at the front desk. I guess I get to see my home away from home for the next few weeks." The elevator dinged its arrival as she said that. "Take it; I need to wait for Ranger," she added.

Slick and I got in and went down to our separate cars. I planned to rib him some more about _Michelle_.


	13. Chapter 13

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

**Warning** for slight smut :)

Chapter 13

_**Silvio's POV**_

I was walking down the hall with Ranger. I'd caught up with him after his three o'clock. I wasn't so much worried about _my_ undercover assignment as I was about Stephanie's part in it. So after much back in forth in my head, I decided to confront him.

"I hope you know what you're doing? She's not trained like the rest of us."

"She has good instincts. Hector will watch her back and I'll have men in place around the area."

"Trouble has a way of finding her is all I'm saying."

"I know. It's accounted for, but I need her skills."

"Skills? As far as I can tell, searches aside, she doesn't have _any_. What she does have is luck."

"Ok, then I need her luck. She fits the description. Thirty-something, physically attractive, curly-hair."

"You didn't tell us about the _curly-hair_?"

"No I didn't. I'm telling you now. Hector knows. I didn't want to scare her. I want her to be herself and lure him out of hiding. If anyone can do it, she can."

"She needs to know. Were all five of them curly-haired brunettes?"

"Yes."

"Ranger, you're putting her in harm's way."

"She's safer with all of us watching her back than she'd be alone on the street. We don't know where he is or when he'll strike next. A bingo hall is just an assumption. He could be anywhere."

"And you'll watch her twenty-four hours a day?"

"I'll know where she is twenty-four hours a day, and if I can't be with her in person, I'll have something else in place. She'll be safe."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

And then my phone rang. I was done anyway. I had nothing more to say to him other than to ask him to find someone else. I cared about our curly-haired girl.

"Hello?" I said into the phone not recognizing the number except that it was from New Jersey.

"Silvio? It's Slick. I was wondering if you'd be able to steer me in the right direction."

I walked away from Ranger to take the call.

_Il Gabbiano?_ "Date?" I asked as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"Yeah. I met a woman. She's here on business but she's from New Jersey."

"_Just _met her?"

"Why are you asking?"

"That's an awfully expensive place for just a casual date."

"I know. I saw the menu."

"Sorry. You just don't seem like the kind of guy who needs to impress a woman with a restaurant."

"I'm not trying. And I'm sure I've already made an impression."

Slick and I were friends from Trenton. He knew I didn't mean anything with my line of questioning. I did it with everyone, Ranger included.

"Speak to Lynn at the front desk. I'd do it for you, but you know what kind of a table you're looking for. Do it in person; she doesn't respond well to phone calls."

When I hung up with him Ranger was gone. I hoped he heard me.

_**Ranger's POV**_

I don't know why Silvio was so worried, I would never purposely put Stephanie in harms way. Hector would be right there, so would a half-dozen of Rangeman Miami's best and I'd never take my eyes off of her. If someone could scoop her up under Hector and my watchful eyes, they had to be someone with skills equal to ours. And if they had skills that good, I already knew them.

Silvio let it drop when he got a call, but I was certain I'd be hearing more from him on the matter. He was very protective of Steph in that teacher/student kind of way.

I left him talking on his phone and I joined Steph at the elevator. We had left our bags at the front desk with Lynn and needed to retrieve them before we headed upstairs. I also wanted to ask her to make a reservation for us for tonight at Il Gabbiano. I was pretty sure Stephanie would like the place.

When the elevator stopped at one, I was surprised to see Slick at the front desk talking to Lynn. I thought he'd be long-gone back to his motel.

"Thanks Lynn," he said turning around quickly and bumping right into me.

"Need to be more aware of your surroundings Slick."

"Sorry boss. Lynn just helped me make a reservation for tonight and I was anxious to get back and shower."

I nodded to him so he would know I didn't hold his lack of awareness against him…this time. He left and we approached the desk.

"Thanks for watching our bags," I said to our receptionist. "I was wondering if you could make a reservation for two tonight at Il Gabbiano?"

"You too? What are they having a Rangeman reunion there?"

I looked at her strangely.

"Slick just asked me to help him get a table. You don't want to sit with him do you?"

"No."

I guess my 'no' was abrupt enough that she realized I was in no mood to play games. She picked up the phone and placed another call.

"You have the back room at eight-thirty. Reservation under Manoso," she said hanging up the phone.

"Thank you." I wondered why Slick would make reservations _there_. It was an expensive, trendy place with good food. He wasn't exactly the see and be seen type.

I didn't dwell on it; I picked up our bags and headed for the elevator.

"Ranger," Stephanie said, "I hope I brought the right outfits for both dinner and the distractions. We put most of the clothes I had out last night back. You said it would be casual?"

"The distraction will be casual and I'm pretty sure there will be some clothes in your closet here that will work for dinner. Ella fedexed some things here earlier in the week."

"For me?"

"For both of us. I'm not sure what she sent. I didn't ask her, but I can assume she took dinner into consideration."

"Ranger?"

"She likes you Babe and I'm pretty sure she knows how_ I_ feel about you," I said using my free hand to bring her face to mine for a kiss.

"Let me show you my apartment here," I said breaking from her as the elevator showed to a stop.

She followed me out and stood by my side while I fobbed the door open. I guess she could see the similarities to Haywood.

There wasn't a lot to see; a foyer that opened to a kitchen on one side and a hall on the other. I pointed out the kitchen and led her into the hall. It broke into two areas, the living area and the sleeping area. We had bags to drop off, so I led the way to the bedrooms. We passed the master suite but didn't stop. I showed her the guest room and dropped her bags off, illuminating the room, opening the closet and finally the guest bath for her.

"This is your room Babe. The bath is private, I have my own."

"What if I wanted to join you?" she asked a little sheepishly.

"You're welcome anywhere Babe. Nothing is off limits to you. I was hoping we'd share meals together or whatever you'd like."

"What if I wanted to share_ more_?"

"Babe?"

"I don't mean tonight, but what if?"

"I'm sure we could work it out," I said, thinking I understood her _unspoken_ words. "For now we agreed upon this arrangement," I said calmly. My dick was saying something else entirely.

"Take a look in the closet. Did the fedex from Ella arrive?"

"Oh my God Ranger, there's a ton of clothes here," she echoed from the walk-in. "Ranger? These are designer labels."

""I'm sure Ella got deals on everything, she's very thrifty that way. They're yours to wear and enjoy."

"Ranger. There are Louboutins and Jimmy Choos on the shoe rack. You've spent way too much money on me."

"Can I come in Babe?"

"Of course."

There were dresses, suits and slacks hung on the rods and summer sweaters and T's folded on the shelves. Stephanie was right; there were Louboutins and Jimmy Choos on the rack along with a couple of pairs of running shoes in bright neons. It looked liked Ella had a fun day shopping. It was exactly what I asked her to pick up. I was sure there was a similar array in my closet, perfectly tailored for every occasion. Ella was organized and she left no stone unturned.

I took one of the dresses from the cross-pole and held it up. It was a beautiful color-blocked mid-calf slip dress. The bodice was peach, the bottom an almost white. It was gorgeous and it would look beautiful on Stephanie. There was another, a grey plaid Steven Alan dress that she could wear for the distraction. It showed just enough leg, but was sophisticatedly simple. Similar in style to what a couple of the rape-victims had been wearing.

On the shelf there was a Panama-inspired jute sunhat with a white band. I took it down and put it on Stephanie's head.

"Looks like Ella doesn't want you to get burnt Babe."

She was grinning so I knew she wasn't as upset as she initially seemed.

"What's this Ranger?" she asked picking another article from the shelf. "Oh," she added, checking herself.

"Bikini Babe. Pretty. It would look good on you." And it would. It had a deep blue background with orange, yellow and white indistinguishable koi fish on it.

Something else caught my eye. It was a strappy crepe tiered dress. It was white on top gradating to pale purple and finally to a cherry on the bottom. I picked it up and took it from the rod. I turned it around. There was a low keyhole opening at the back. It was understatedly sexy.

"This is a beautiful dress Stephanie. Maybe you'd want to wear this tonight?"

She looked at the keyhole opening in the back. I could see her trying to figure where it hit.

"Waist Babe."

"I don't think you need one," I added reading her mind. I knew she was trying to figure out what kind of a bra to wear under it.

"Oh yes I do."

"Then Ella probably had something in mind. Check the chest of drawers."

"Oh. NuBra," she said opening the top drawer and bringing out a box. "I've never worn one of these."

"Looks sexy Babe. I'll leave you alone with it."

"Wait."

She caught me by surprise, I thought she wanted to try it on.

"You haven't finished showing me the apartment yet."

She was stalling.

"Ok Babe, follow me." She put the box on top of the credenza, the dress back on the rod and followed me out of the guest room.

"This is the master suite," I said as we passed my bedroom.

"Show me," she said. A big step for someone who was afraid to be alone with me in a ramshackled apartment with a bare mattress on the floor a number of years ago.

I led her in by the hand. "Nothing much to see Babe. A bed..."

"A _canopy_ bed. Ranger?"

"Yeah, I thought it might keep the mosquitos out if I opened the windows...it doesn't."

"But I bet it would be fun to sleep under."

"Please don't send me mixed messages Babe."

"There's nothing mixed about what I'm trying to send you."

"I'm _still_ an opportunist. You give me an inch and I'll take a mile."

"I know."

"Do we need to talk?"

"Nothing much has ever come from our talking. Maybe after dinner."

"Then let me show you the rest of the apartment," I added, not feeling one hundred percent safe staying in my bedroom.

I led her out and took her down the hall towards the living area.

"Dining room to the left; this is the living room. There's also a den with a TV for you and my office."

Stephanie was in the living room looking out.

"Deck. Ranger, this apartment has a deck."

"It's too hot out there during the day, but it's nice at night. Maybe we can sit out there after dinner."

"And _talk_?"

"Ok Steph. Obviously there is something on your mind."

"This is what's on my mind," she said coming closer and running her hands up my chest.

Never one to let an opportunity pass a second time, I put my arms around her and brought my lips down on hers. They were plump, dewy and inviting. Somehow I lost myself in the kiss. I used my tongue to part her lips so I could get inside and I heard her moan.

"You ok, Babe?"

"Never been better," she said breathlessly.

I put my hands to the bottom of her tee and lifted it over her head. I was sure she would stop me if this wasn't what she wanted. She didn't.

I picked her up and carried her back to my bedroom. I parted the canopy and brought her inside. She looked up and smiled at me.

"Batcave?"

I shook my head no.

I went slow, worshiping every inch of her as I kissed my way down her beautiful body, stopping at a number of erogenous zones for a nip or a lick.

"Oh God Ranger," she said when I licked the area right above her ass then slowly let my tongue glide down its cleft.

"Little known hot spot Babe," I whispered letting my tongue go further south. She moaned as I tongued her open vagina. The sounds of her close to coming made me even harder and after I knew she was more than ready for me I grabbed a condom, rolled her over and I pumped into her.

I went deep, knowing I could hit her g-spot from my angle of thrust. The juices just seemed to pour out of her and she screamed loudly as she came for me.

I knew I could get her to come again by keeping my angle deep and hitting her clit with every pump. She screamed my name this time, as she came again.

It had been too long. I couldn't hold myself back any longer, she just felt too good. So I thrust once more and ejaculated deep into her.

"You ok Babe?" I asked again when we came back down. I didn't want her to think I was taking advantage of her.

"Um hmm. Very."

"We should shower and get ready, we have an eight-thirty reservation."

"You still want to take me out?"

"Of course Babe. I want to show Miami the woman I love. Wear the dress we looked at earlier. You'll look ravishing in it."

"I think I'll need some help with the, um, 'foundation' Ella got me. Up for the challenge Batman?"

"Any time," I said and felt myself harden again. Dios, what that woman was capable of doing to me. We'd never get out of here if I didn't get my self-control back. And somehow that thought made me smile.


	14. Chapter 14

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 14

_**Slick's POV**_

I was getting ready to meet Michelle in the motel lobby when my cell phone rang. I had a good ten minutes before I needed to leave so I picked it up.

"Yo," I said to Hector. "What's up?"

"I'm running a search on Florida's foster care system and I may have come up with something. A dude named Faustus Santana applied for permanent foster care status of the girl he's had in his charge for the last three years. He has her name as Rebecca Shane, but between the last name of _Santana_ and her date of birth, October 22, _1998_, I found it a little suspicious. I wanted to give you the address that shows up here."

"I wasn't planning on paying anyone a visit tonight. You think this can wait?"

"Unless he's moving tomorrow, you should be good. He's been there for three years."

"Well he _was_ looking for another apartment…if it's the same dude."

"I doubt he's going anywhere in the middle of the night. And he needs to keep Florida informed of his address if he wants to keep getting assistance. I can't find a place of work for him though, so I'd get there by eight in the morning."

"Thanks man. I'll let Junior know and we'll get there early."

"Enjoy your _date_ tonight."

"How the fuck did you know?"

"I was in the lobby when Lynn brought up the Rangeman reunion at Il Gabbiano."

"The _what_?"

"Ranger and Steph have reservations there tonight too. Might get crowded."

"Shit." I didn't need my boss looking over my shoulder. Then something else hit me. "Hey wait a second. What did you say Santana's first name was?"

"Faustus, like _Doctor Faustus_…"

"The dude who sold his soul to the devil in the Christopher Marlowe play? Sounds like an alias to me."

"I thought so too, that's why I called you."

I took the address from him and then we hung up. I looked in the mirror one more time to make sure I was presentable, then went out to my Explorer. I didn't want Michelle to have to walk in case she had on heels.

I parked outside and saw her at the door. She was wearing some sort of a twisted front dress with a deep v-neck. The skirt to it was flowy and hit just above her knee. Obviously she got a little sun at the pool today and the orange fabric showed off her slight tan. She looked stunning. She was wearing flat espadrille sandals that wrapped around her foot sexily. They weren't the heels I expected but they weren't ugly wedges either. I wondered when I started having opinions about women's footwear?

"Hey Michelle, you look lovely," I said kissing her on the cheek and taking her by the arm to lead her to my car.

"Thank you. You clean up pretty good yourself _Shaun_," she said flirtily.

I had my iPhone in the well of the dash and was using the GPS to direct me to the restaurant.

"I like this," she said pointing to it. "Where did you get it?"

"That's just my iPhone?"

"No I mean this holder. It seems to be built into the dash."

"It's a custom job. Our tech guy designed it. It has a lot of features, broadcasting the phone's GPS through the speaker system is just one of them. If I pugged my iPad in, you'd get the full effect, but I left that back in Trenton."

"Trenton? I thought you said Paterson?"

"Well I'm _originally_ from Paterson, but I live and work in Trenton."

"I live in Princeton; my agency's in Hamilton."

I was a little taken aback that she lived so close. For a second I hoped dinner wasn't a bad idea.

"Oh. I guess I assumed you worked for a _New York_ agency." I said in place of the gak sound my throat was thinking about making.

"We have a New York office, but I like it in Jersey; I helped them open the office there. Have I suddenly dropped a few notches in your book because I'm not a Madison Avenue type?"

"No way." Actually she went up a few, but I decided to change the subject.

"I just found out that my boss and his girlfriend, or whatever he calls her, have reservations at Il Gabbiano's tonight too. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we don't bump into them."

"Embarrassed?"

"Never. Any woman who can keep up with me is worth showing off to the boss. I just don't want to share you."

I hoped I said the right thing. Shit. You never knew with women if you were insulting them or not until it was too late.

"Keep it up _Slick_," she said. But she was smiling so I guessed I didn't faux pas too badly.

"And you never told me what security company you worked for," she added. "Maybe I've heard of them?" This time _she_ changed the subject.

"Rangeman."

"The black cars. _Built_ guys. Yeah, _now_ I see it."

"Good or bad?" I asked ready to come up with an excuse in case something she saw left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Indifferent. But you can change my mind one way or the other."

Was she coming on to me?

"Well I hope I give you the right impression. We're a good bunch of guys." Well except for what goes on in the back room at Pinos. Or God help me, Shortys.

"You don't have to paint a rosy picture. I know what you do and it's not always pretty. Knowing someone is watching out for us makes me feel good. And knowing it's _you_ makes me feel better."

I didn't know what to say, but we'd just pulled up in front of the restaurant, so I took my phone from the dash and gave my Explorer over to the valet.

I offered my arm to Michelle as we walked towards the entrance. She turned and kissed my cheek.

"Sorry Shaun I was being a hard ass. I like you."

My phone buzzed that I had a text. I planned to turn it off so I could have dinner with Michelle in peace, but obviously someone beat me to it.

"Sorry, I have to answer this," I said looking at the screen and seeing it was Junior's response to my earlier text. "I promise, no more texts or calls after this."

"It's ok. I understand; we all have jobs to do. I'm sure mine will be ringing off the hook the minute they realize I'm down here for the shoot too."

I hoped she wasn't going to be on her phone all night. I glanced down at the screen to text Junior, but she caught my look. I guess my eyes showed disappointment.

"Don't worry, I turned it off. They can wait."

I settled the time with Junior. I was picking him up at his motel at 7:30 and then I gave my name to the maître d. Obviously Lynn knew the Rangeman protocol and we were shown to a table in the back along the wall. I took the wall seat so I could scan for bad guys, although I didn't like leaving Michelle's back unprotected.

"Wine?" I asked as the waiter handed us menus and me the wine list.

"Sure."

"Preference?"

"I like red, but I'll drink anything."

"Ok red it is." I chose the pricey Italian the waiter recommended and he left to fetch it for us.

"So tell me about you," Michelle said. "Ethnicity? Wait, let me guess. French Moroccan?"

I'd been tagged as French Moroccan before. My swarthy complexion, dark eyes and resemblance to the soccer player Marouane Chamakh were probably the reason.

"Puerto Rican and house Negro, but good guess."

"Good guess? I was so far off it wasn't funny. House Negro?"

"We didn't work in the fields. And by my features, I'm guessing "Massah' spent quite a bit of _time_ with my great grandmother."

"I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. That must have been hard on her."

"Don't be sorry. It makes me who I am."

"Yeah _slick_."

"I'm never going to hear the end of that, am I?"

Her eyes were smiling as she shook her head. "Nope."

Our waiter was back with the wine. He opened the bottle and poured some into my glass. I did the obligatory swirl, taste and approve while Michelle grinned at me.

He then poured hers, filled mine and scooted off. I picked up my glass to offer a toast to her.

"Here's to a good TV shoot tomorrow."

"Thank you, but how about to a nice evening? Tomorrow is too far off."

"Ok, here's to a nice evening." We clinked glasses.

"And now that you know all about me, tell me about you? You said French, Swedish and German, so I'm guessing your blonde hair is natural?"

"Highlights, but yeah, pretty natural. And there's not much to tell. I have a married sister with a 16-month old nephew and a younger brother who's going into his last year at Vassar."

"You said you're a creative director? Tell me about that."

"It sounds more glamorous than it is. I go to meetings, review work and occasionally get to use my talents. Had I known what the job entailed, I would have just remained an art director."

"Well you must be good at what you do or you wouldn't be here."

"I guess. We probably should look at the menu. Our waiter's been by a couple of times," she said, changing the subject once again. I got the feeling she didn't like talking about herself.

I looked up to see Ranger and Stephanie walk in the front door. "My boss is here. I'd introduce you but I don't even know your last name."

"It's Lore. Michelle Lore."

"Thanks. I'm Moore."

"Lore and Moore. _Ok_," she mumbled to herself, probably thinking I couldn't hear her.

Ranger and Steph had caught sight of us. Ranger interrupted the maître d's lead to come over and say hello.

"Slick," he said, holding out his hand in greeting.

"Hey boss. This is Michelle Lore. Michelle, my boss Carlos Manoso; we call him Ranger. And this is Stephanie Plum."

"Nice to meet you Michelle," Ranger said, shaking her hand warmly. "Slick, talk to Hector when you have a chance, he has some leads. We'll leave you alone. Enjoy your dinner."

"Thank you, you too," Michelle said. Steph waved and they disappeared to the back room of the restaurant.

Our waiter came by for the third time and _this_ time we placed our orders. We split an arugula salad with pear and gorgonzola. I had the chicken breast braised in Calvados with mushrooms and cream and Michelle ordered the orecchiette with broccoli rape and salsiccia. Everything sounded good; I hoped it was.

"What's salsiccia?" she asked once the waiter stepped away.

I had no idea. "I thought _you_ knew."

"I haven't a clue. I ordered it because I liked the sound of it. I'm adventurous; I'll try anything."

Good to know.

"It's bits of spicy pork," the man at the next table said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I just asked the waiter the same question. So when I heard the word salsiccia, my ears perked up."

We thanked him and I made a mental note to speak lower. My dinner was with Michelle, not with our neighboring tables.

_**Hal's POV**_

With Slick, Junior and Hector in Miami, my time on monitor duty increased. Not that I really minded; I kind of got into it after a couple of hours. I preferred monitoring the outside accounts though, but because Roy was helping me tonight and he had already pulled a shift, I got the inside monitor. I saw Cal and Jamie come back from Pinos together around eight-thirty. Early night. Guessed Santos was up to his usual obnoxiousness and they'd had enough.

I lip-read Cal asking Jamie if he wanted to come up for a beer. Good. I was glad the guys liked Jamie. I did. He seemed like a good hire and he'd catch on to everything soon enough.

After that, the halls were empty until Binkie came back around midnight and Lester around one. I wasn't going to ask, but by the looks on their faces they had had a nice evening. If you could call having meaningless sex nice. I just didn't get that one.

As I said, watching our video feeds was bor-_ing_, so I started to snooze. If there was any movement on the screens the lack of repetitiveness would most likely wake me. And somewhere around 4 am it did. The camera on four showed a door open and Jamie stepping out of Cal's apartment. I guessed they got into a game of poker or something. God knows; Cal was _always_ into something or another.

Not another peep until 4:30. Manny headed down to the gym followed by Brett and then Ram. At five the place was jumping and at six I was replaced by Binkie, who won the job via lottery. I hoped he'd had enough sleep. It was one thing to nod off during the night shift but by day he'd be noticed and called to task. Tank wouldn't let _that_ go unpunished.

I knew the guys made fun of me because I blushed so easily. It was something I couldn't help and my light complexion made it so much more obvious. I didn't particularly care what they did, I'd had relationships of my own, but when they talked about it as if it were nothing my face reddened. I could never say the word 'pussy' or 'cunt'. Jesus. And I hoped God would strike me down if I ever did. I joined this crew because of Ranger. He wasn't crude; he was admirable. He had real values and I felt the way he did on a deep level.

I liked Stephanie too, so when I overheard they might be trying to make something work between them I was happy. No one ever said those exact words to me, but I read between the lines that they were in Florida trying to try.

"Hal, can you help me out here?" Binkie asked taking the monitor to my left. The one _Roy _just relinquished_._ Binkie was supposed to take mine. Sal was set to watch the outside accounts but our _Binkie_ had a way of getting what he wanted.

"Sal know you switched?" I asked.

"He doesn't need to know, he'll do whatever I ask."

"You know Binkie, fuck you." I said finally giving him the words I felt for a long time.

"What's your story Hal, not getting any and taking it out on me?"

"At least I don't have to get myself checked every couple of months. I don't put my dick in harms way," I said, blushing at the word dick, then turning to leave before one of us threw a punch at the other.

_**Lester's POV**_

Stephanie called me again. She sounded happy. She sounded _really_ happy.

She said her and Ranger were getting ready to go out to dinner and she just wanted to talk.

"Anything I should know about?" I asked her.

"Lester! I can't talk about stuff like that. You know I don't kiss and tell."

Obviously some shit went down between them and by the relaxed, dreamy quality to her voice I'd say they had sex. I didn't want to see her hurt again and as long as she was happy and I didn't have to beat the shit out of him (as _if_ I could), on the surface all seemed good.

Under the surface was a different story. I had this burning desire to go down to Florida. I wanted to get her away from Ranger and have her _really_ look at the situation. What the fuck?

Now I'm _not_ jealous of Ranger. Never have been. If anything I don't think he has enough fun in his life and Stephanie deserves a little fun. Growing up Stephanie Plum has not been easy. Between her over-critical mother, her at-one-time _perfect_ sister, the 'can't keep it in his pants' ex-husband and that insanely jealous cop, life has not been easy for her. I didn't want Ranger adding to her list of anxieties. She deserved a break.

And if it really was working out, I'd have to relinquish my 'protector' role, something I just realized wasn't going to be easy. I enjoyed the friendship we developed over the years. And I enjoyed her confiding in me. Yeah I wanted to protect her. So much so that I was willing to beat the shit out of anyone and anything that hurt her in any way. Morelli topped my list.

"Lester, did you hear me?' she asked again, taking me out of my little daydream.

"Sorry Steph, I'm at my computer and got side-tracked, I didn't catch that."

"I said Ranger had Ella send down some clothes for us. She bought me designer dresses, Louboutins and Jimmy Choos. The part of me that feels I don't deserve any of this keeps kicking in, even though Ranger said I should just wear and enjoy everything. What would you do if you were me?"

I'd never worn Louboutins or designer dresses for that matter but I knew nice things made most women happy.

"How do you feel when you wear them?"

"I haven't put anything on yet. I'm sitting here contemplating them and I called for advice."

"Take a picture and send it to me; I'll give you the best advice I can," I said, thinking she wanted my take on what to wear.

"Ok, hold on."

A few seconds later, a couple of images came to me via text message.

"Ella has good taste," I said looking closely at the pictures she sent me. "I like this tiered dress with the open back," I told her, taking in all the clothes on the rack.

"So does Ranger, but that wasn't what I meant. How do I deal with all these gifts? My gut wants to give them back and just wear what I brought."

"Where are you going for dinner?" I asked, trying to help her.

"Il Gabbiano. Lynn made reservations for us."

"That's a five-star restaurant. What did you bring?"

"Slacks, jeans, t-shirts, a couple of camis."

"Honest opinion?"

"Of course Lester, that's why I called."

"You don't want to feel out of place. Wear the dress."

"And the other gifts?"

"Just accept them Beautiful." It looked to me like he was trying. "But let me know if he hurts you in any way."

"He'd _never_ hurt me Lester. You know that."

"I wasn't talking about physically. Enjoy yourself and call me tomorrow."

"Ok Les and thank you."

I didn't know what she was thanking me for. My _shoulder_ I guessed. But I _was _glad she called. It helped me process the shit that was going on in my own head. If this did work out between them, I'd have to relinquish my role; she didn't need two protectors.


	15. Chapter 15

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

I'm sorry I haven't kept my promise of a few chapters a week. Somehow real life took over this week. I should be back to normal after this though (I hope) :)

Chapter 15

_**Tank's POV**_

I was in the break room when Roy came in. He and Hal just finished up a night on monitor duty and he seemed upset.

"Everything ok?"

"With me yeah, but if I didn't pull Hal out of the control room just now, I think Binkie would have taken a swing at him."

Binkie and Hal had done monitor duty together for years and there seemed to be a kind of friendship there. Hell if I knew what was going on. But when I heard about his few choice words to Binkie I felt I needed to talk to him.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called his cell.

"Hal, do you have a minute?" I asked when he picked up.

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"About _Binkie_?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

Now we don't rat on each other but the monitors are open cameras for anyone of us to view. I'd rather not have Hal pissed off at Roy too, so I told a small lie.

"I was just scanning the monitors and it looked like the two of you were ready to throw punches at each other. I'd like to stop the war before it escalates. My office in five."

"Ok Boss."

I needed to talk to Brown and Santos too. We often strategized together when Ranger was out of town and there were a few things going on here lately that needed to be spoken about. Cal's extracurriculars and now Hal and Binkie were but two of them. There wasn't the time to call an impromptu meeting with Hal on his way up, but I texted them as I walked to my office.

'8:30 am. My office. Core meeting.'

Bobby texted me right back. 'Sure boss see you then.'

When I didn't hear from Lester just as quick, my guess was he was out late last night and was still asleep. We had a job to do here and developing a bad reputation even on the seedier streets of Trenton wasn't going to cut it. Especially if it came from one of the core team who needed to prove his manhood any chance he could get. I didn't have the authority to remove him from our tribunal, but I certainly could reprimand him.

After Hal, I'd talk to Santos.

_**Junior's POV**_

Hector had called me earlier. He spent the later part of the afternoon running a search on Florida's foster care system. He told me he gave Slick the address of this Faustus Santana guy he found, but wanted me to have it too. Just in case.

The address was two blocks from my motel. I could wait for Slick to pick me up in the morning or I could drive by there now and take a look.

I was bored out of my mind, so I decided to go for a look.

The address proved to be a run-down two-story house. It looked like a single-family residence, but until I looked closer I couldn't be sure.

I scanned the property first. There was a wire cage in the back yard. It was kind of like an over-sized chicken coop, but since I didn't hear clucking my mind went to rabbit hutch. Ok, so he liked to keep bunnies. That triggered another thought. _Shit._ No. Not bunnies; a fifteen-year-old kid.

I walked over and I could hear whimpering.

"Hey, Darcy," I whispered on a hunch.

Suddenly it got quiet.

"Daddy?" came a soft voice.

"No I'm an federal agent," I said using our deputization to make it seem bigger in her world. "Sit tight, we'll get you out of here."

"Pease just leave. Everything is ok."

"Everything is not ok. People don't live in cages. Are you restrained?"

She didn't answer.

I picked up my phone and placed a call first to Slick and then to Hector.

I had a feeling Slick's phone was off, but I knew if I dialed 766 before the number it would turn his phone on. Hector set all our phones up that way.

"What's up?" he asked picking up on the second ring.

"I found her. She's in a wire cage behind the house. I need your help NOW."

"Shit. Ok. I'm on my way."

"Hector," I said, placing my second call. "I just called Slick. Can you meet us at the address? I found her. We'll need to make sure she's safe then take him down."

"I'll call Ranger."

"No. Don't. He's having dinner with Steph. They need to work out their lives. Leave him alone."

Minutes later, lights came on in the house and a figure appeared at the back door. Although I was whisper-quiet I guessed he picked up on my presence anyway. I was hoping to do this _with_ backup, but thank God I left the house with a badge and guns. I pulled the badge from under my t-shirt so it would be in plain sight and I walked out of the shadows, gun held securely with both hands.

"Federal agent. You're under arrest."

"That's what you think," he said pulling a gun from behind him and shooting me in the upper arm. Had I not detected his mark and moved at the last second he would have hit my carotid artery and I'd be dead. All of our training had my responses highly attuned.

I heard a rustle behind me. Thank God either Hector or Slick had arrived. I didn't think Santana heard the faint footsteps, but I did. I could make out three people. My initial guess was that Hector contacted Ranger after all; but as I detected their movements one was much too light-footed to be a man. Stephanie?

I hoped she stayed back, this guy was unpredictable and if he saw her I was pretty sure he'd shoot her first.

I regained control of myself and even though my arm was burning, I used both hands to take aim at his head. That's when I caught sight of a pretty blonde in the shadows two-fisting a gun. Then I saw Hector in the house behind Santana and Slick off to my left. Looked like none of us would have to shoot. Hector had it under control. I watched as he threw a garrote over Santana's neck to pull him close and block his air passages. Santana had a full foot of height on Hector but that didn't seem to factor into this at all.

"You struggle and you kill _yourself_," he said full-Spanish accent in play. "Drop the gun."

Santana dropped it and Slick, myself and the mystery woman ran to him, guns in hands and cuffs out.

"Great job Michelle," Slick said to the blonde as we ran, "growing up in a cop family certainly has you well-trained."

"Told you."

"Slick, you gonna introduce us?" I asked once we had Santana trussed up like the prize catch and I had a chance to improvise a tourniquet on my arm until I could get it looked at in the ER.

"Let's get Darcy out of that cage and make sure she's ok."

Michelle_ (was that her name?) _had already made her way back to the hutch and I heard her talking softly to the whimpering child.

"Just hold on a few more minutes until we cut through this wire. Shaun come here," she called louder, appraising the situation. "She's cuffed to the back and this thing is locked. Do you have wire-cutters in your truck?"

I knew Hector did and I guessed he'd already checked out the shack because he appeared at Michelle's side with wire cutters and began cutting the fencing away. I could see her hands bleeding as she and Slick pulled the sharp chicken wire back after Hector cut through. Whoever she was she seemed unafraid of a little action.

I knew at this point we needed to call the local police, so I took my phone out of my pocket and placed the call. They arrived minutes later and took us _all_ into custody. So much for the friendly help we'd been promised.

Thankfully we had, well except for Michelle, Rangeman ID, deputization papers from Governor Christie and apprehension forms for Darcy's captor. What Michelle did have was a father who was the chief of police of Edison, NJ. While we showed our papers, the Miami PD placed a call. She was released before we were.

Even before Ernesto, the 'Tank' of our Miami office showed up to vouch for us, Michelle had convinced the desk clerk of our credibility. He was putting paperwork through to get us out when first Ernesto appeared and second Ranger called. Within minutes we were apologized to and freed from our bonds.

I could tell Slick wasn't very happy. Hector and I were non-committal, but then again we weren't trying to impress a woman. Duh.

Once we were apologized to _again_ and thanked for both bringing in Santana and finding a missing child we were sent on our way. I just happened to look up as Slick brought his arms to Michelle and kissed her nose.

"Thank you," I heard him whisper. "I was hoping I'd be impressing you, but you seemed to one-up me. You were fabulous."

"Because I got myself out of this or because you liked seeing me with a gun?"

"I liked the gun," he said and kissed her again, this time on her lips.

"Are you this forward with all the women you meet?"

He shook his head no. "Just you. Can I see you again?"

"Are you promising me another night of action?"

"Are you coming on to me?" I heard him say.

I tried to ignore their conversation but I was hooked as if to a bad daytime soap.

"Hmmm. Probably." And then she kissed him. Shit. It took _all_ my effort to tune them out altogether.

I had asked Hector to take me to the ER to get my arm stitched up. I hoped too much time hadn't passed since I was shot. It was burning pretty bad and if I hadn't been side tracked watching Slick and Michelle I would have made a fuss about it.

"Junior lets go." Hector said. "You can pick up on your soap opera later."

"Shit man. It was just getting exciting."

"Give him space. I've never seen him with a woman I could put a name to before."

_**Binkie's POV**_

I don't remember saying or doing anything to Hal to have him so pissed off at me. We haven't really been getting along for a while but when he practically jumped down my throat and cursed me out when I wanted to switch monitors with Sal, I knew something bigger was up.

I didn't give two shits who liked me and who didn't but I had to work with him. And working with a partner who detested you _and_ carried a gun was asking for trouble. He was pretty tight with Ram so after monitor duty I'd give him a buzz to see if Hal shared anything with him.

What I didn't expect was a call from Tank about an hour into my watch.

"Can I see you in my office? Zip'll take over for you."

"Sure Boss."

I wondered what that was about. I hoped he wasn't going over the videos and caught Hal blowing off steam at me. Or my less than polite response to him. I knew Hal hated that Lester and I pretty much had our choice of any woman in Trenton and we'd both been through a lot of them. Probably the same ones—although we've never compared notes.

I saw Zip outside the control room so I took off my headset and got up so we could switch.

"Do you know what this is about?" I asked him.

"No man, Tank just caught me coming off of rotation and asked me to cover for you for an hour. He didn't seem particularly pissed though."

Like that told me anything. You could never tell how Tank felt. That damn blank face.

I walked down the hall towards Tanks office, kind of strutting as I went. My phone buzzed, it was a text from Zip.

'I'd lose the SWAG. He's not that happy.'

I took his advice although I was pretty much at Tank's door.

"Hey boss. You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah. Come in. Sit down."

I did as I was told.

"So you don't think I'm singling you out, I just spoke with Santos too. You can compare notes if you want. It's gotten back to me that the two of you are cocking around Trenton like a couple of sluts. Although _you _might think it's good for _your _reputation it's not good for the reputation of Rangeman. I'd suggest you try to keep it in your pants or at least be more discreet about it. I hope you get yourself checked often too. I'd hate for us to be spreading anything but top-notch security around the city. Hear me?"

"Is this going on my permanent record?" I had the balls to ask.

"How about it's between you and me right now. I'll give you a month to get your testosterone under control. If I hear anything else, you'll be the first to know about it."

Shit.

"And if you and Hal can try to make peace, I'll keep that off your record too."

"Sorry boss. He started it."

"Binkowski, we are _not_ children. Work it out. Dismissed."

Well that didn't take an hour and I didn't think Zip would be too happy about only getting paid fifteen minutes of overtime, so I went to the break room, got a water and took the opportunity to call Ram.

"Know what got Hal so crunked?" asked in lieu of a greeting.

"Nope, but I think you should ask _him_."

That's what Tank said too but I wasn't going to let Ram know that Tank spoke to me about _anything_.

"I don't think I can get close enough to ask. He's ready to throw punches at me."

"My advice would be to just talk to him. Go out for a beer or something. Work it out; Hal's a good guy."

Work it out. How was I supposed to work it out when I didn't know what_ it_ was? My phone was still in my hand so I scrolled down to Hal's number and placed a call. Never let anyone say I didn't try.

"Hal it's Binkie. I want to talk about what happened earlier. Do you have some time later? Maybe go to Pinos for a beer?"

"Make that Mario's and I'll go with you. There's too much _other_ shit that goes down at Pinos."

"Thanks man. Mario's it is. Six o'clock good for you?"

"Six is good. We don't need to take two cars, I'll meet you in the garage."

"Ok see you then."

That went better than I expected.

_**Ranger's POV**_

I was sitting in the restaurant with Stephanie when my phone rang. I had it turned off so it had to be one of my men. No one else knows how to turn a phone on remotely.

It was Hector.

"We got Santa…"

"Did you get the girl too?" I asked before he had a chance to finish his sentence.

"She's safe. Right now both of them are at the South District Station. And so were we until Ernesto bailed us out."

"What the fuck? How did that happen? They know who Rangeman is."

"They didn't know us or Slick's girlfriend so they locked us up. Her father's a cop so she was released first. She had pretty much sweet-talked the desk clerk into letting us go when Ernesto..."

"Slick's _girlfriend_?" I asked and then I saw Stephanie's ears perk up.

"I'll tell you later Babe," I whispered, putting my hand over the phone for a second.

"Her name is Michelle and she's staying at his mot..."

"Yes I know. We just met her. It was your choice of words that made my ears perk up. Somehow _girlfriend_ and _Slick_ don't go together. Tell me about Santana?"

Hector relayed to me how Junior's motel was a couple blocks away from the address of our person of interest and how he went to investigate on his own. I was just short of being pissed off, that isn't Rangeman protocol. But he called for backup and they got their man, so I kept my anger in check.

I thanked him for keeping me in the loop and mentioned that we'd need to have a debriefing in the morning. I hung up with him, shut off my phone then turned back to Stephanie.

"That was Hector. They got Santana. Between your search and Hector's attention to detail we found an address. Junior investigated on his own. I was about to call and reprimand him but he did bring in Slick and Hector for backup. Darcy's safe; she's in police custody now too," I told her trying to keep the emotion out of my voice. Julie was just a year younger than Darcy and I remembered what I went through when she was missing.

"Ranger isn't that amazing? We got him on our first day were down here. We gave ourselves a couple of _weeks_. Shouldn't we let the press know?"

"No. I like to operate _under_ the radar; we don't exactly run our company by the same standards at the Miami PD. As little investigating as possible is my motto."

She looked at me a little strange; I guessed she was thinking that one out. I wasn't sure what she'd do, but she quickly changed her expression and smiled at me.

"That's right, you guys have holding cells and some 'borrowed' equipment. Not sure what the press would make of that one."

"No one knows about my holding cells, or the 'borrowed' programs Hector keeps finding. I hope you don't plan on spreading that around."

"Never," she said in a way that made it seem as if we had a pact.


	16. Chapter 16

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Mild smut warning.

Chapter 16

_**Ranger's POV**_

I didn't want to take time away from my dinner with Stephanie, but detaining my men should never have happened. All the precincts within the Miami PD knew who we were. That action sent out the wrong message and an unacceptable one at that.

"Babe, I hate to do this to you, but I need to make a quick call. I promise my phone will be off after this. I wanted tonight to just be us, so I'll make this as fast as humanly possible. I need to give Manuel Orosa a piece of my mind."

I stepped away. Stephanie did not need to hear the language that was going to be coming from my mouth—even if it was all in Spanish.

Manuel and I have known each other for years and as the chief of police it was his duty to inform _all_ his precincts about Rangeman. We'd worked together on many occasions and he'd seen our professionalism first-hand. The locking up of my men was not a good situation.

I had Manuel's cell phone number in memory, so I called it and he answered.

"Ranger. I'm sorry about the mix-up," were the first words out of his mouth. "The desk clerk at Miami South is new. He didn't know you had offices in other cities. When your men produced IDs and he'd never seen them before he took his oath to protect seriously. He thought they could have been a threat."

"A threat? They brought in a man the governor of New Jersey has been looking for for five years. And they also brought in the girl. I hope you didn't subject her to a body cavity search too."

"I said I'm sorry. This will be looked into closer and if anyone needs to be taken to task I'll do it personally. Can I buy you dinner for your inconvenience?"

"Thanks for the offer but I'm in a restaurant with someone very special right now and I don't want to take any more time away from her. This should never have happened and I felt I needed to make you aware of the situation."

"Trust me, I was made aware as soon as Ernesto came in to get them. Shit. I'm just sorry your men had to go through this. I'll call each of them personally and apologize."

"That would be nice. I have to get back to Stephanie," I said ending the call and turning my phone off.

"I'm sorry Babe," I said coming back to the table. "Phone's off," I added, showing her the blank screen.

"I hope you didn't rip him a new one. I goggled him while you were away. He's the chief of police."

"I know Babe. We've worked together for years. He said he's going to personally call Slick, Junior and Hector to apologize."

"And Michelle. He needs to call her too."

"Noted. He does. And I'm sorry this took away from our evening together. I wanted tonight to be special."

"It's ok. I should be used to this."

I didn't know what she meant by that. This was the first time I'd ever walked away from her for business.

"Babe, care to explain?"

"Morelli would leave me alone with Bob all the time. '_Can you walk _him _Cupcake?'"_ she muttered as if reminiscing.

Just hearing his pet name for her made me livid. I needed to change the subject before I burst a blood vessel thinking about it.

"Would you like to out to a club after dinner? I know how much you like to dance."

"Is there any place to go on a Wednesday night?"

"This is Miami Babe. Salsa, disco, rock and roll. We have it all."

"Salsa?"

"Latin dancing. I'm sure you've seen it."

"It's pretty hot."

"Game?"

"Mmm. You'll give me a lesson?"

"I think you're a fast learner. But if you want a lesson, any excuse to touch you makes me happy."

"If I say yes, will you really teach me?"

"Of course I will."

"Ok, then let's go."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"One, two three…five, six, seven. Basic step. Try it Babe."

She was a good dancer. I knew she'd get it.

"Ranger I want to do one of those turn things that they're doing," she said pointing to a couple near us.

"It's the same steps, but when I put my hand on your shoulder blade and kind of push you slightly into the turn, you'll need to follow through. Don't worry if you don't get it right away, no one is judging you. Everyone just wants to have a good time."

"Ok, let's try. One, two, three…five, six, seven," she said using the natural break to move into her turn. She had it. We danced for a couple of hours. I was surprised because Steph usually tells me she's not into exercise. Good to know I could always disguise it as dance.

"You look sexy Babe," I whispered in her ear.

"Not too bad yourself Batman."

"Want to head home, we have a debriefing in the morning."

"You mean_ you_ do. I wasn't in on that takedown."

"I still want you there. I want the men to see that I value your opinion."

"Is that wise? I don't have a lot of training."

"You have great instincts. Don't ever underestimate yourself. Let's head home."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"Ranger," Stephanie said when we were in the car, "um, about sleeping arrangments. I um…"

"No pressure Babe. Whatever you are comfortable with…"

"I want to stay with you," she said, putting her hand to my leg and teasing a finger up towards my crotch. If she kept that up, I'd have to pull over.

"It seems to me you have something else in mind, but I'm glad you want to share my bed."

"Ranger are we almost there?" she asked a few seconds later, her hand still caressing my leg.

"In a hurry?"

"You just got me all hot and bothered with all that dancing and touching."

Good to know. "And what do you want me to do about that Babe?"

She reached over and in one zip unleashed my quite erect manhood.

"Oh God Ranger," she said looking at me then leaning over the center console to take me into her mouth.

God she felt good, but driving on US1 was no place for a blow job.

"Babe, I'll take you up on that as soon as we get back."

"Mmmm Ranger. How long?"

"Next intersection. That feels amazing, but I really need to pay attention to the road, people are crazy down here."

"_I'm_ down here," she said not relinquishing her mouth on my penis.

"Yes you are and if you don't want me to explode all over the place I think you need to put me back until we get upstairs."

"Party pooper," she said removing her mouth from my dick and giving me a little breathing room. Unfortunately there was no way I'd fit back in my pants until I let myself relax a bit and looking at this beautiful woman with my precome all over her lips wasn't helping the situation.

_**Hal's POV**_

When Binkie called me to go out for a beer I knew we were going to talk about all the shit that's transpired over the last six months. Hell, he was fucking every witch whore Trenton had. Not to mention that Santos had already _baptized_ them. This was going to be a difficult conversation for me. The thoughts came to my head but the words lagged behind.

I knew if I went down to the gym I could at least work out the frustrations and maybe the language would follow. Hell why did I agree to a beer? We probably would have been better off if we had just donned some gloves and head protectors. Not really. I might have _felt_ better but I didn't think that would solve the problem, he needed to be _spoken_ to.

I changed into my gym clothes and headed down. I had a date with the bag.

Chet and Erik had pulled some odd rotation and were the only other guys in the gym with me. They saw the look on my face and backed off when I started beating the shit out of the boxing bag.

"Hal you going to be ok here by yourself?" Erik said a while later. "We have to start our shift."

I knew I was running on pure adrenaline and I knew what he meant. I stopped and steadied the bag, leaning over to catch my breath.

"Thanks Erik. I got it out of my system; I'll go collapse now."

"Protein Hal."

"I know."

"You want us to send Bobby down?"

"No. I'll be fine. I'm good."

I felt so much better after I beat the crap out of that bag. So much so, I was ready to take on Binkie.

I listened to Erik's advice and made myself a protein shake to counteract the adrenaline crash I knew I was going to have and then I took a shower. I had a few hours to kill and even though I'd done an overnight on the monitors I wasn't tired so I paid some bills online and caught up on email. I knew a couple of beers would turn into beer and burgers so I didn't make myself any dinner before I went down to the garage.

I told Binkie to meet me at my car so I left a little early to clean out the PowerBar wrappers I shoved into the console yesterday. I'm not normally sloppy but Roy and I stopped at GMC on our way back to Haywood and between the two of us we devoured an entire box. And not wanting to get hell from anyone for eating six PowerBars apiece, I left the evidence in my car.

Once I disposed of the wrappers, I drove over to the vacuum we have in the garage and cleaned out the inside. That done I was ready for Binkie.

_**Silvio's POV**_

I spent the afternoon shopping. I take my assignments seriously and if I was supposed to be a gigolo I was certainly going to look like one. I went to the consignment shop first. I needed at least a year old Armani suit and a few designer shirts. My rationale was that a real gigolo would be looking for a woman to support him, so his clothes would be designer but not new. I lucked out with the suit but unfortunately shirts were in short supply. Never one to be outwitted, I made my way to the Armani Exchange. I bought three shirts in different colors and I was now at the Laundromat, running them through their third wash-cycle, adding a drop of bleach to each load for a slightly-weathered look.

This time I was going to dry them and head back to Rangeman. I was getting stares from some of the regulars. Guessed they weren't used to people pulling pins out of shirts before depositing them in the washer.

I was too late.

"Trying to impress someone, honey?" a woman said coming over to see what I was up to.

"Don't like the feel of new shirts, they itch," I muttered back to her.

"Then lose the bleach, it'll make them itch more."

Shit I didn't realize I was being watched so closely.

"I thought it would break the fabric down," I said not realizing I was engaging her in further conversation.

"It eats the threads away but it also leaves a film on your clothes that can make you itch. I'd wash them again in cold water before I popped them in the dryer."

Good to know. And since I wasn't due at my first Bingo game for another couple of hours, I took her advice and ran the clothes through just a cold wash one more time.

When I was finally done, two hours later I might add, I gathered up my shirts and headed out to my car.

"You'll be glad you took my advice," the woman said giving me a wink. "And you just saved someone's nose too. That stuff smells worse than a dead rat."

"Good to know," I said, saluting her goodbye. I just hoped she didn't play Bingo.

I had one more stop to make. I needed Bingo markers. In the car I googled them and was sent to Walmart. Thankfully there was one just a block away.

I picked up a jar of red and a jar of blue; I was as ready as I'd ever be.

I got back and threw a _Healthy Choice Chicken Pesto Alfredo_ into my microwave while I sorted through my purchases. Shit, I forgot to get a tie. I figured Lynn's husband would be good for a tacky tie, so I called her cell and hoped she was home for the evening.

"Lynn, it's Silvio. I'm doing a distraction tonight and was wondering if I could borrow a tie from Herb?"

"I think they're all old…"

"Perfect, the older the better. I'll be right over."

Lynn's apartment was just down the hall, so I left my dinner in the microwave, took my keys and powered down the hall.

I found an old silk Bill Blass chain-print tie in his closet. It was perfect. I knew he would have what I needed. Too bad I didn't come here first I thought to myself when I saw a few well-worn Calvin Klein shirts on hangers. Probably not my size anyway.

I thanked Herb and Lynn and went back to eat and get ready for Bingo.

_**Slick's POV**_

After we were released from our cells and Hector took Junior to the ER, I asked Ernesto to drive Michelle and I back to my car that was parked one street over from Santana's house. I sat with Michelle in the back and I used the opportunity to get into her space. I took her hand and a la Ranger with Steph, I brought it to my lips and I kissed it.

"How are your hands? They were bleeding before."

"They're a little raw but I'll be fine in the morning. I've been through worse."

"Tell me about your dad."

"Always been on the police force. When I was little he was a patrol officer but from middle school on he's always been the chief of police."

"He's still active?"

"He is. He keeps saying he's going to retire, but I think that would kill him. He lives for his job."

I needed to run a thorough check on him and unfortunately Michelle when I had the chance. Too much could be at stake if they didn't pan out.

"He taught you how to shoot?"

"I kind of taught myself. He didn't want any of us to follow in his footsteps."

"Will you stay with me tonight?" I whispered forwardly, changing the subject.

"I'm not like that you know, but yes, I want to be with you."

I took her confession as an opportunity to kiss her again. I used my tongue to part her lips and gain entrance to her mouth.

"Mmm Shaun, you're a very good kisser," she said a little breathlessly.

"I'm good at other things too," I replied softly.

"Ok, it's a little too quiet back there," Ernesto said as we pulled up to my car, "I hope you two still have all your clothes on."

'For now,' I thought, thanking Ernesto for the ride. "See you tomorrow," I added knowing we'd have a debriefing at some point.

It was about a ten-minute drive back to our motel. Michelle already said she'd stay with me but I wanted to keep constant contact. My right hand caressed her thigh as we drove.

"Are you being_ slick_ again?" she asked taking in my hand that kept inching up.

"With you I'm always Shaun. _Slick's_ taken a leave of absence."


	17. Chapter 17

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 17

_**Binkie's POV**_

I met Hal down in the garage. He smiled when he saw me come off the elevator and walk towards his car. I guessed the smile was just for old times sake because as soon as I opened the passenger door and sat down things changed.

"No women tonight ok Binkie? This is just between the two of us."

I raised my hands as if in a 'surrender' stance.

"No man, just us. No chicks," he said once again.

I wondered why he made such a fuss. There were no _chicks_ at Mario's anyway; it was more of a neighborhood place where guys came to watch a game and catch up with each other. So once again I raised my hands to surrender and we drove the short distance to Mario's in silence.

Mario was behind the bar and greeted us as we passed. We headed for a booth so we could talk and his lone waitress followed us back.

Hal shot me a look.

Fuck him. I wasn't going to hit on her, and besides she was wearing a wedding ring. Of course that hadn't stopped me in the past but I was going to show him that I was _capable_ of behaving myself.

"Hi guys. Haven't seen you around in a while? Everything ok?" she asked.

Hell, that was because the action was in the back room at Pinos or out in the open at Shorty's.

"We're good, Becky," Hal said. "You?"

_Becky?_ He knew her _name_?

"Can't complain. What can I get you?"

We both ordered Indian Brown Ale on tap. One of the good things about Mario's is that they have some nice American beers and at the moment Indian Brown was among my favorites. Looked like it was one of Hal's too.

"Should we order a couple of burgers?" I asked. I hadn't eaten dinner. I figured Hal didn't either and the burgers were good here.

He nodded in agreement and we placed our order when_ Becky_ came back with our beers.

"Ok Binkie," he said after we both took a long pull on our ales. "What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize for this morning. And I was hoping we could talk about whatever it was that set you off."

"Whoa, whoa, step back. You're apologizing and not knowing what you're apologizing for?"

"I figured it had to be about my brusqueness. I had asked Sal to switch monitors with me earlier in the week and he agreed. I didn't run it by the powers that be again; I assumed it would be ok both with him and with Tank. That was my bad."

"We have procedures for a reason. We are a well-oiled machine and if one of our cogs is rusty nothing's going to work. When are you going to learn this man?"

"Ok Hal. I hear you. I fucked up. What do you want me to do about it, chop off an ear?"

"No. Then you'd never hear me. You have problems man."

"_Problems_? Like things I need answers to?"

"No. Like something you constantly need to stick your dick into. It'd be better if it were a keyhole but it's not. It's women."

"Since when do you get off judging my lifestyle?"

"Since it's interfering with your work. Don't tell me no one else has pointed this out to you. Keep going the way you're going and it's going to fall off."

"What kind of bullshit thinking is that?"

"STDs are real. Gonorrhea. Syphilis. Take your choice man. Oh unless you're going for AIDS. Yeah maybe that's more your _style_. There's no cure for that one."

I didn't know what to say.

"I guess I've been a little promiscuous, but you only live once, right?"

"AIDS Binkie. You might not be _living_ at all."

I was about to defend my case but I noticed _Becky_ making her way to our table with our burgers and fries and another round. I didn't know her but if she was like a lot of the other waitresses in Trenton my _problem_ would be all over town if she got wind of this conversation.

"If you guys are good for a while, I'm gonna go take my break," she said after depositing the contents of her tray on our table.

"We're good," Hal said. "How's Dan?"

"He's fine. He'll be here later if you want to say hello."

"Good deal. Enjoy your break."

"And you're telling me not to flirt," I said to him once _Becky_ was out of hearing distance. "Who's Dan?"

"Dan is her husband. _Our mechanic. _Yeah _that_ Dan."

Oh shit. The Dan that could probably kick anybody's ass at Rangeman, well except for Ranger and Tank. Now I knew where I'd heard her name before.

_**Junior's POV**_

We were done with our assignment and could fly commercial back to Trenton after our debriefing in the morning. Although it looked to me like I was the only one heading back. Hector had a dinner date with Argo on Friday and who knew what Slick was up to. Probably if Michelle was staying down here for a few more days he'd stick around too.

I really had nothing pressing to do in Trenton and usually after an out-of-town assignment Ranger gave us a few days off to unwind. I was hoping that would be the case here even though this assignment lasted less than a day. Maybe the distraction that Steph and Silvio were working on could use another man? I'd ask in the morning. If not maybe I'd drive up to Disney World. I hadn't been there since I was a kid.

My phone rang as I was contemplating my day tomorrow. I looked at the caller ID. It was Ranger.

"Can we meet before the debriefing tomorrow? I reserved the small conference room on two, say eight o'clock?" he asked when I answered.

"Of course boss. I'll meet you there at eight," I said repeating the time so he'd know I had it. "Is this just me?" I added thinking I might be getting shit for my impromptu walk by.

"Just you. I'll talk to Slick and Hector separately."

Well at least he'd be speaking to all of us so I guessed I wasn't getting fired. Well, I hoped I wasn't.

I wanted to give Slick a heads up, but I knew he was with Michelle and I didn't want to disturb him. He probably had his phone off anyway, so I sent him a text. He'd check it when he had a chance.

'Ranger just called. I have an 8am with him tomorrow. He said he'd call u 2'

'He already did. I have a 9'

'Stop texting, ur with a woman ( '} {' )'

'Enough Jr,' he texted me back when he saw my kissy face emoticon.

'Sorry. I couldn't control myself'

I laughed to myself, put my phone back in my pocket, then pulled it out again to call Hector.

"Hear from Ranger?" I asked when he answered.

"Yeah, I have an eight-thirty."

"You think he's going to give us hell for not following protocol?"

"I do. I think he's had time to think about it. Even though we got the girl and Santana, we didn't follow the rules. Everything could have gone FUBAR."

"It didn't."

"But it could have. You could be dead instead of just caring for a flesh wound and Santana could have gotten away with the kid. What the hell were you thinking anyway?"

"I was two blocks away. I wanted to check out the address and see if there was anything suspicious I could alert Slick to in the morning. I didn't expect to find a cage in the backyard."

"I think he'll read us the riot act and then thank you for your diligence. I know him. He's too anal and you fucked up. Well, we all kind of _improvised_ but somehow pulled it off at the last second. You know how he is; he _likes_ plans."

That's what I thought too. Maybe I'd have to meet him on the mats and get my ass kicked, but that would be the worst of it. At least I'd still have a job. Or I hoped so. I really liked working at Rangeman and it would be hard to find another gig like it.

"I guess I'll see you in the morning then," Hector said ending the call.

I was feeling kind of antsy so I decided to go out for a walk even though it was after midnight. I made it the almost seven miles to Rangeman when I realized I could either stop in or walk the seven miles back. Not that walking back would be any big deal but I decided to go up.

Julio was on monitor duty. I'd met him earlier in the day when I stopped by for our 3 pm meeting.

"Hey Junior. What are you doing here so late?"

"I was feeling restless and decided to go for a walk."

"Oh no, not again."

"You heard about that?"

"Yeah. News of that takedown even made its way back to New Jersey already. The governor called. He has some kind of commendations for you."

"No shit." So maybe _that_ was what Ranger wanted to talk to us about?

_**Hal's POV**_

I was back on the day shift, but since Junior was still in Miami with Slick and Hector, I got roped into another round of monitor duty. And when our receptionist Benny took lunch or breaks, answering the phones became part of my duties. Not that I minded. Sometimes answering the phones was more interesting than staring at monitors for hours on end.

It was on one of these breaks that the phone rang.

"Rangeman," I answered like I usually do.

"Is Lester Santos there?" a female voice asked.

"Who's calling?" I asked. We actually had a list of the woman Lester wasn't accepting calls from; it was a pretty long list.

"It's Maya Laskey from the _Times of Trenton_. We've spoken before."

Oh shit. It was that crazy reporter lady. The one who wanted to take shirtless pictures of us for a feature story on Rangeman.

"He's out on assignment right now," I lied. "Can I take a message?"

"Well is Hal there then? I didn't get a last name, but he was awfully cute."

"This is Hal," I said, although I had no idea why I acknowledged that _I_ was who she was looking for.

"Can I come and talk to you? I just heard through one of my sources that Rangeman apprehended Diego Santana in Miami and that Darcy McCall has been freed. I'd like an exclusive."

"I'm sorry. Our boss has a policy; no interviews."

"This is not an interview, this is a front page news story."

"He has asked us not to talk to the press. I'm sorry," I apologized again.

"So what are you hiding then? Everyone wants a front page story."

"We're not hiding anything. We're a busy company and we don't have time to talk to you."

"Isn't your boss the guy that almost ran me over? I didn't press any charges, you at least owe me an exclusive for that."

"Listen Ms. Laskey, I don't have the power to change policy here, maybe you want to talk to Tank?"

"Tank? Wait, I have his name on my list. Tank Sherman. Correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Can you connect me?"

"I'm sorry ma'am he's not in the office right now. I'd suggest calling back in an hour," I said, knowing that Benny would be back at his desk by then and I'd be off the hook.

"Ok, I'll call back in an hour, but take my number in case he wants to call me. Or _you_ do."

Great, now I had a _crazy_ reporter hitting on me.

_**Slick's POV**_

Listen, I don't like to talk about my love life. Well, if you can call it that. Up until today I don't think I've ever been in love. Yeah infatuation. Yeah some heavy _like_, but love…no. It was seeing Michelle handling a gun the way…hey, the way _Ranger_ would. Yeah, that kind of hey. She was a natural. If I was going to get myself hooked up with a woman it had to be that kind of hey.

I invited her back to my motel room. I had to get to know her better.

I parked the Explorer in the lot and went around to her side to open the door for her and help her out.

"Shaun can I go back to my room and get some things?"

"Of course, I'll walk you."

"Maybe we should drive, it's all the way on the other side. I'm number 12."

I was number 118. She was a little more than just around the corner. I helped her back in and I drove over to her place.

"Come on in, you don't have to sit out in the car. I just want to grab some stuff. Two seconds."

I followed her in and as she shut the door behind us, something took over. I used my body to hold her secure and I brought my lips down on hers.

"Mmmm. Shaun," she said, when we came up for air, "if we want to get back to your place give me a few seconds."

"Who said we had to go to my place?" I answered, just as breathless as she was.

"You did."

"I think I'm ok here. It's where you are and I'm feeling too good to move."

"Me too," she said taking control and initiating a kiss back.

Her arms were around me and it just felt right. I picked her up and carried her the short distance to her bed.

"Say no now," I demanded of her. I'd be disappointed but I needed to know it was ok with her if I took this to the next level.

"I'm not going to say no and you know it. Shaun I want you."

"Mmmm, I want you too."

I didn't want our first time together to be hurried. I wanted to take it slow and show her the lover I could be. Unfortunately she had other things in mind. She had my shirt open and was removing her dress when I stopped her. I had hopes of taking it off of _her_ when the time was right.

"What's the rush?" I whispered.

"I need you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I want you_ now_."

"I can make you want me _more_," I whispered in her ear, then nibbled her lobe and kissed my way down her neck.

"God," she shuddered.

"He's not here. It's just me," I said making eye contact. She was very pretty and her blue eyes were dark with desire.

"Can we come back to this later? I _really_ need you."

No way was I not giving this woman the full treatment. She merited the best orgasm I could give her and I knew if I could play with all her nerve endings a little longer, it would be so well worth it.

"Michelle, you deserve to be made love to. Let me worship you."

She didn't protest so I used my hands and my tongue to make my way down her body, removing clothing that came in my way. She was beautiful. Her skin was soft and smooth and her body hair was non-existent. I was wondering if she was totally bare. My mouth at her mound was only separated by a thin layer of material and I didn't feel the resistance even a small bush would give me. The thought just made my dick harder. I tongued her through her panties and she arched and moaned in desire. With a flick of my wrist they were gone and I was treated to the most luscious, hairless vagina I'd ever seen.

"Mmmm. You are so beautiful, " I whispered tonguing her and lapping up her juices.

"Shaun, please," she said arching higher and opening up her labia in display as she bridged back. She reached for my very erect penis and as soon as she touched me I knew I needed to be inside of her. I opened the condom I somehow palmed when she removed my pants earlier, rolled it on and slid into her.

She felt like ecstacy. Velvety and tight. God. I slammed myself into her hard, then backed off slightly and she came within a few thrusts.

I knew that if I altered my angle of approach I could hit her g-spot and make her come again right away.

"Shaun," she said breathless, "God you're good."

I hadn't done anything spectacular yet so it was my guess that she hadn't been with many guys who cared to give her what she deserved.

"I'm not that good, you were just ready for me," I said playing down one of my many talents. "How about we try this?" I added, making my way down her body and tonguing her vagina again.

"Mmm, sweet," I said, coming up for air with her juices all over my lips. "Nector of the Gods."

"You are so freaking _slick_, I don't know why I bought into you."

"I'm serious Michelle, you taste wonderful. Feel what you do to me," I added bringing her hand to my very erect penis.

We made love again then slept on and off the rest of the night. Our sleep punctuated by lovemaking sessions.

I knew she had to get up early to be present for an 8 am curtain call somewhere nearby.

"Hey," I said softly into her ear. I was trying to wake her for the third time since the alarm she set last night went off at 6:30. "You have to wake up, you have a shoot this morning."

"Go back to sleep," she said, trying to push me away from her.

"Michelle, I'd love to stay in bed with you all day, but you have to get up. Come on baby. You don't want me to pick you up and take you into the shower now do you?"

"Mmm, like last night Shaun?" she said beginning to wake.

"I said take you _into_ the shower not take you in the shower, but if that's what you want…" I said, picking her up and carrying her into the bathroom. I turned on the water and once the temperature warmed up, I carried her under the showerhead with me.

"Oh my God, I'm so sore," she said as I moved body parts to soap her up.

"Did I hurt you?"

"It's good sore Shaun," she said wrapping her arms around me and rubbing herself against me suggestively.

"Baby, you have to go to work. I'd love nothing more than to make love to you again, but if we start you'll be late. Can you stay down here with me this weekend?"

"Don't you have to go back to work?"

"I have a nine o'clock with the boss and then a debriefing. If you have to go back to Jersey after your shoot, I'll go back with you but if you can take the weekend off I'd really like to spend it with you. We can book ourselves into a nicer hotel and see as much or as little of the outside world as you want.

"You're not a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy?"

"I know you can see what you do to me," I said looking down at my erection, "but feel my heart," I added, placing her hand on my chest.

"It's beating awfully fast."

"It's in love Michelle."


	18. Chapter 18

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Slight smut warning :)

**NOTE:** There's a little bit of a different timeframe going on in this chapter. The Ranger/Steph scene is happening on a Wednesday night. The Slick/Michelle talk is early Thursday morning and Silvio's bingo game is Thursday evening. I will fill in the blanks next chapter :)

Chapter 18

_**Ranger's POV — **__Wednesday night — 10:35 PM_

Initially I wasn't going to say anything to Junior, Slick or Hector but thinking about their lack of procedure made me change my mind. They needed to know they couldn't just play by their own rules.

First up was Hector. He, of all people, should have known better.

We spoke in Spanish but basically I told him I wanted to meet with him before the 10 am debriefing. I gave him an 8:30 slot and told him where. I called Slick next. Slick was such a perfect name for him. He could be so _slick_ at times. I knew he didn't initiate this but it had all the ear-markings of something he could have done.

"Slick. Ranger. I'd like to meet with you before our 10 am debriefing. How about at nine in the small conference room on two?"

He agreed. I left Junior for last because I was still quite angry with him.

"Can we meet before the debriefing tomorrow, say eight o'clock?"

"Of course boss. Is this just me?" he asked in a way that let me know he was not entirely comfortable meeting with me alone. Good.

"Just you. I'll talk to Slick and Hector separately."

That done I wanted to spend the rest of the evening with Stephanie. She told me, and not very subtly, that she wanted to move into my bedroom with me while we were down in Florida. It was what I hoped for, but now I had to show with actions, what I said with words.

She was sitting on the couch in the living room channel surfing when I came out of my office.

"Babe, I'm sorry. No more work. I'm just going to concentrate on you for the rest of the night," I said walking over to her, picking her up from the couch and taking her into my arms.

She looked at me questioningly and I used the opportunity to bring my lips down on hers softly and suggestively.

"Mmm cantaloupe," I said tasting the sweet fruit on her lips.

"Someone stocked your refrigerator while we were out and put slices into a tupperware. I helped myself.

She had changed from that sexy dress into a t-shirt and shorts. I much preferred the dress but she was beautiful, whatever she wore.

"Mmm Babe, I see you were able to get out of your _undergarment_ by yourself," I said reminiscing about helping her tack on the NuBra Ella got for her to wear with the dress.

"I left that for you. I just didn't want to get the dress wrinkled. Up for the challenge Batman?"

Any opportunity to touch her…or her breasts.

"Babe."

I lifted the t-shirt from the bottom and pulled it over her head. The NuBra was still held to her breasts by adhesive. It was sexy. I put my hands to her cleavage and began to peel a soft gel cup off of her.

"Oh God Ranger," she said when I pulled the gel away and replaced it with my mouth.

She was not an exceptionally large breasted woman but what she had perked to my touch. Her erect nipple made me hard and I brought her hand down to feel my response.

"Dios. What you do to me Babe."

"Mmmm. Use it or lose it Ranger."

I'm up for any challenge and that was all I needed to hear. I carefully peeled the other cup from her and discarded the undergarment on the couch along with the t-shirt she had on. I moved my mouth to her other breast to give that some attention too and I heard her moan. I could have picked her up and taken her into my bedroom, but variety is the spice of life so I used my free hand to throw a couple of pillows onto the floor. I picked her up and carefully laid her down on them unbuttoning her shorts as she hit the floor. I left them on but they were open for easy access.

I made my way back up to her mouth and I kissed her. The softness of her lips made me think about the softness of her other lips and my tongue automatically found its way inside her mouth. I kissed her until it felt right to move on.

I knew the area between her neck and shoulder was a particularly arousing area for her, so I concentrated my efforts there for a few minutes. I didn't want to mark her; that felt like too much like a teenage thing to do, so I was careful not to suck on her skin. Instead I used my mouth just enough to stimulate her nerve endings.

I made my way back to her breasts and kissed the area between them. I moved down her belly with my mouth and used my tongue to play with her belly button a little. She arched in appreciation. I knew she wanted me to go lower, but she wasn't ready for that yet. Before I brought my mouth to her vagina she had to be closer to the point of coming.

So she'd know I was planning to get there eventually I removed her shorts and teased her with my breath.

"Ranger more," she demanded when I moved back up to the area above her panties.

"All in good time Babe," I whispered, playing with the nerve endings at the top of her mound. Then I left the area for a while and took the fingers of her right hand into my mouth and sucked on them one by one. She shuddered as I tongued the underside of her wrist.

"Erogenous zone Babe. You like?"

"Mmmm."

I used the opportunity to remove my own shorts as I had changed from the dress slacks I had on earlier. I had nothing under them and my dick was very happy to be sprung from his enclosure. I took a condom from the pocket before I tossed them aside and continued my assault on Stephanie's beautiful body.

"Ranger I seem to have too much clothes on," she said noticing that I was naked and she was still wearing panties.

"We're both in an equal state of undress, I don't always wear underwear," I said teasingly, although that was hardly true anymore.

"I'm going to take them off."

"In good time Babe," I said lying down on top of her so she'd be physically unable to remove them. I slowly made my way down her body once more time. I used only my mouth and tongue and I knew by the time I reached her navel she'd be ready for me although I wasn't going to give her any advance warning.

She was writhing and arching like a cat in heat when my mouth finally came to rest on her mound. I licked her through the fabric and she moaned loudly. I pushed her panties to the side and brought my mouth to her very wet vagina. I tongued her then removed her panties and in one quick thrust I was inside of her.

Dios she felt good. Better than earlier in the day. She was wet, tight and fucking amazing.

I went slow after my initial thrust. Just feeling all that moist, slippery skin around me sent me into sensory overload. It's not like I wasn't used to being inside a woman but this was Stephanie. The woman I'd been wanting access to for the last three years. God she was heaven.

_**Slick's POV —**_ _Thursday morning — 7:21 AM_

"It's too soon Shaun," Michelle said to my declaration of love.

I knew she was feeling something so I prompted her. "Is it baby? What are you feeling?"

"I feel a really nice man. He's handsome and charming, but we've just met."

"Humor me. Tell me what you feel."

"You make me feel good Shaun. Alive. I like that…"

"So go with it. Stay with me."

"I want to…listen I'm just being cautious."

"You have a boyfriend?" I asked although I didn't pick up that she was hiding that from me.

"No. No boyfriend…"

"A girlfriend?"

"No. Nothing, just a case of the jitters I guess. I really like you…"

"So stay with me. I don't bite. I want to get to know you better. Baby, please don't run."

"I'm not running anywhere. Can you give me a couple of hours to think about it? Why don't you meet me for lunch at the shoot? I'll introduce you to the people who work for me and the actors and crew. I think you'll like it."

"Ok. Give me the address. What time do you want me there?"

"Come as soon as you're free," she said taking a napkin from the small dinette table and copying down an address for me. "You said you had a nine o'clock meeting with your boss and then a debriefing on the takedown we did last night?"

"I should be done by eleven. Is that too early to stop by?"

"No. It's perfect."

I took her hands in mine and was about to kiss her when I felt a number of bandaids on both hands.

"Baby are you ok?" I asked opening one of them to take a closer look.

"Michelle this is more than a scratch and it's still bleeding. It's too late for stitches but I have some butterflies in the car. Will you let me look at them and bandage them for you?"

"I'm ok. I don't want to be late."

"They could get infected. This won't take me more than ten minutes."

"Ok. Go for it."

I went out to the car and brought back the first aid kit. I sat her down at the little dinette table and opened the box.

She was looking intently at the contents and finally reached over and pulled out a condom.

"First aid?"

"Prevention. We're prepared for anything. I have some Plan B here to," I said pulling out a cardboard strip with two sealed pills on it."

"Plan B?"

"Emergency contraception. It's progestogen. In the case of unprotected sex it prevents the egg from leaving the fallopian tube. No egg, no pregnancy."

"And all of you guys carry this with you?"

"It's to administer to rape victims if we can't get them to a doctor right away. Let me look at your hands," I added, changing the subject.

She had a couple of deep lacerations on her palms.

"Have you had a tetanus shot lately?" I asked knowing these cuts came from chicken wire that was outside. It might have started to rust.

"I stepped on a rusty nail at a beach a couple of years ago. I got a tetanus shot then. I should be ok."

I was glad I didn't have to be worried about that, so I just cleaned out the cuts with peroxide and put a couple of butterflies over the three largest ones that were still bleeding. I was about to wrap gauze over both hands to hold the butterflies in place but Michelle looked at me and shook her head no. I knew she was worried about what her fellow employees would think, so I just covered them with bandaids and we both got ready to leave.

"I'll see you in a few hours Shaun, ok?" she said, pulling me to her and initiating a kiss. "And my answer is yes. I'll stay down here with you this weekend."

"What changed your mind?"

"You did. That was a very touching thing you just did. I can see that you care."

"I told you," I said grinning, then kissing her.

_**Silvio's POV—**__Thursday evening — 7:50 PM_

We'd done some research and there was a bingo game at Our Lady of Mercy tonight. It wasn't one of the halls that had been visited by our rapist before but since it was in the area and I had to begin establishing my cover we were going to give it a go.

I put on one of my newly laundered shirts along with the Armani suit and Herb's tie. I slicked my hair back and took a look in the mirror. I was pleased with the result. Definitely gigolo material.

Rangeman had picked me up a 2003 BMW 325i in perfect condition, so I went down to the garage to get my car and drive to the bingo hall. I guessed I wasn't expecting a convertible. I smiled as I pulled the keys from behind the visor and fired it up. It whined like a fine-tuned machine, so what if it was ten years old? A BMW is a BMW and technically this wasn't a 325i it was a 325Ci. C being the operative code for convertible. Maybe once this apprehension was over Rangeman would sell me the car. It was a real gem.

I drove over to the church and just as I approached a car pulled out right in front. I smiled when I saw that it was Hector. He'd saved me the coveted spot. As I did a perfect parallel park into the tight space I noticed two women checking me out. Good. Maybe I'd make a couple of _friends_ tonight after all. I needed to get the word out so it wouldn't seem strange that I was all of a sudden visiting every bingo hall in Miami.

"Ladies," I said tipping my mirrored sunglasses to them. "Good game?"

"Usually it's boring; just something to do on a Thursday night, but it looks like our luck is about to change. New in town?"

"Just looking to pass the time. My wife died six-months ago and it's time to get out of the house again. I bought some bingo markers but I've never played before. Care to show me the ropes?" I asked spreading my arms so each one could take an elbow.

The women took me by my arms and ushered me inside. Obviously they were regulars and had a standing table. The brought me over to it and sat me down between the two of them.

"I read about some rapes outside of bingo halls nearby. Aren't you afraid?" I asked once we'd paid for our bingo cards and had our markers out and ready.

"They were rapes to younger woman. No one is interested in _us_," Joann, the woman to my right, said.

"I might be," I responded, looking at her as sensually as I could.

"My Sal is still alive although he's dead as a doornail. Focus your attention on Barbara, I think she could use it," she whispered, a most honest expression on her face.

I heard some commotion outside at that point. It could have just been the bingo hall filling for an eight o'clock start, but I doubted it. Something was up.

When I heard Ranger's voice I excused myself, telling Joann and Barbara I'd be right back. I was pretty sure they thought I was going to the men's room.

"He's got Stephanie," Ranger said to myself and the three other Rangeman who were working the building. "He put some kind of fast-acting sedative over her mouth and just picked her up and put her in his truck. Hector got a plate number and she has trackers on and is wearing a mike. But they're gone. He sped off under our noses.

"Go back to your game Silvio," he added wiping his brow. "You're trying to establish a persona. If we need you, I'll come and get you."

Shit.

I knew Junior volunteered to work this case. He had called me this morning after his meeting with Ranger. I took out my phone and placed a quick call on my way back to the bingo game.

"Junior. It's Silvio, where are you?"

When he told me he was still in Miami but getting ready to head up to Orlando for a few days, I told him about Stephanie's abduction.

"I'll be right there," he said ending the call abruptly. If my help was needed inside, I was glad _he_ could help on the outside. Junior was a good man and a great tracker.


	19. Chapter 19

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 19

_**Ranger's POV**_

"Babe are you sure you're comfortable doing this?" I asked Stephanie as the time grew closer to get ready for the distraction.

"I told you Batman, I'm cool. It's not like I've never done this before."

"Ok then I have something for you," I said going into my closet and taking the rings I brought with me from Trenton out of the safe.

"We know he's grabbed married women fitting your description, so I want you to wear these," I said opening the ring box and taking Steph's left hand. I kissed her fingers one-by-one before placing the rings on her second to last finger.

"Ranger?" she asked looking at the rings closely, "where did you get these? My apartment?"

"No Babe. Roeblings."

"Roeblings jewelers in _Trenton_?"

"Yes. They are one of our accounts and I like doing business with our clients."

"These look like the rings from Hawaii?"

"I believe they are identical. I picked out the first set myself and I just asked them to duplicate my original order."

"Why?"

"Because I thought they'd look pretty on your finger."

"You really picked them out with _me_ in mind?"

"I did Babe, now let's get you wired and _dressed_. I also got you a little Ruger LC380 which should fit nicely in that straw concealed carry shoulder bag Ella picked up," I said changing the subject and going back into my closet for the gun.

I personally set Stephanie up. I wired her and made sure the mic worked. Then I convinced her to wear the grey plaid sundress Ella sent down specifically for this distraction. Two of the other rape victims were wearing similar dresses when they'd been taken. I wanted as many details to correspond to actual events as I could pull together.

We drove to my grandmother's house so that Steph could take her to bingo at Our Lady of Mercy. My grandmother really did play; she went to bingo almost every Thursday so this was not at all out of the ordinary for her. Steph would be acting as the dutiful granddaughter-in-law and after we spent less than an hour with introductions, pleasantries and an explanation about the rings on Stephanie's finger, she whisked away Abuela Maria in the BMW we drove over in. Hector and I followed a safe distance behind in one of the Explorers.

Steph drove around the block a couple of times before she parked the car and walked my grandmother to the hall. She had just turned back towards her car when someone came out of the shadows. He had a cloth in his hand and brought it to her face. Hector saw the interaction but before we could react or radio it to the team, they were gone. He'd picked her up, deposited her in his truck and sped off.

Steph was wearing trackers and a live mic, but I didn't like that a serial rapist had access to her for even the few minutes it would take us to pull up her coordinates and follow his car.

Hector ran the plates and we found out that the vehicle was stolen. That noted, we really didn't know _who_ we were dealing with other than he was strong enough to pick up a 125-lb woman as if she weighed nothing.

A couple of the Miami guys took over Padre Miguel's small office as our command center. I had spoke with him earlier in the day and made arrangements in case we needed the space. All our cars had monitors installed in-dash, similar to a GPS, that could track coordinates and when Stephanie's registered on them, we took off. Ernesto and Filipe were in one car and Hector and I were in another. We followed at a safe distance behind the truck, using the coordinates being given off by Steph's trackers rather than a visual cue. We didn't want to let him know he was being followed.

About three miles from the church the truck slowed and turned onto a dirt road. While Hector drove, I quickly overlaid that road on our monitors and saw that it was a shortcut to I-95. I called for backup to block the exit point so we'd have him trapped.

When we got to the road he'd turned down we noted that it was barely wide enough for one car in either direction. But just in case he made a U-turn and doubled back, Ernesto and Filipe stayed at the mouth of the road. Hector turned onto it. The blips given off by Steph's trackers were still moving forward.

Looking at my watch I noted that ten minutes had passed since he took her. I wasn't sure what he used to knock her out but my guess was some sort of halogenated ether. And if that were the case it should be starting to wear off. Another good thing was that he hadn't stopped driving yet. It was pretty hard to rape someone and drive at the same time and his other victims had all been taken to a secluded spot before being raped. I was pretty sure we'd be able to catch up to him before he had an opportunity to get to Steph. And if she was awake, as I suspected, he'd better watch out for that deadly knee of hers. I knew she'd try to use that _before_ reaching for her gun.

I saw the trackers slow in speed to about 25 miles per hour. It was what the road could handle for normal vehicles, but we were anything but normal. We plowed down it at around 40 mph and caught sight of him just around the bend.

I placed a call to Armando who was riding shotgun in our backup vehicle. They had already accessed the road from the I-95 side and were driving towards us. In about three minutes we'd be on him from both sides.

We didn't know if he was armed, but I put on a flak vest as we drove and I pulled another one out of the back for Hector. I instructed Armando and Juan to do the same.

Suddenly I noticed the speed of the car in front of us slow considerably.

"He's going to turn," I said and Hector slowed our car so we could follow if necessary.

There was no road running perpendicular on our map so I wasn't sure where he was headed. If there was a small shack or A-frame it should have showed up on our enhanced satellite display, but nothing did.

"Large downed tree," I said, blowing up the enhancement even more. "I think that's where he's going."

We had caught up to where he turned off and Hector swung our car around obstructing his way back out. We went in on foot.

I heard a very slight rustle behind me and turned slightly to see Armando and Juan, guns out and ready. I signaled for them to cut through the woods and block off any access further into the wooded area. They nodded that they understood and took off.

Fifteen feet in front of me I saw the truck. Hector went left and I went right. What I wasn't expecting to see was Stephanie, gun out and aimed at the man's chest.

"We're federal agents and you're under arrest," I heard from my earpiece which was a direct feed from Steph's mic. Those words were the first sounds it uttered since we did a sound check back at the apartment.

I didn't know how she did it, but I was certainly proud of her.

"Are you ok Babe?" I asked once Hector cuffed Steph's abductor and led him to our truck to shackle into the back seat.

"Couldn't be better," she said smiling and putting her gun back into her concealed carry bag.

I needed to see for myself that she was indeed ok, so I took a few steps forward. I wrapped my arms around her, leaned down and kissed her. I guessed I kissed her like I would if we were alone. I heard muffled sounds behind me and looked up to see Hector sending Juan and Armando on their way.

"Ernesto and Filipe should be here in two minutes. You and Steph can take their car back to Rangeman, we'll bring the rapist to the South District Station. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to see me again," he added with a sly smile on his face.

I was still holding Steph when I heard the sound of two cars approaching. I raised my eyes to take in Ernesto driving one and Junior with the another. I was glad Junior took it upon himself to join the search even though I told him he wasn't needed.

It was at that point that I realized how much my men cared for Stephanie.

_**Junior's POV**_

I hardly slept at all. My mind just kept wandering and I was worried about my meeting with Ranger. Things could go any which way. I was dressed and ready by 6 am after having completed a full workout by 5:30. I knew I couldn't call Slick and talk to him about my apprehensions; he was with Michelle. So I handled it by myself and was standing outside the door to the small conference room on two when Ranger showed up a little before eight.

"You're here early," he said opening the door with a key.

"I guess I didn't sleep very well," I replied following him in and helping to turn on the lights.

When the place was illuminated he turned to me.

"Sit down Junior," he said before adding, "You probably know why you're here."

I did as I was told and took the seat across from him. I answered right away; as he intimated I _knew_ why I was there.

"I took it upon myself to check out an address. I knew it was against protocol but as soon as I saw a potential situation I _did_ call for backup," I added, in my own defense.

"You know why we have procedures in place don't you?"

"To keep us safe. And I know taking a walk to an address two blocks from my hotel wasn't exactly a safe thing to do. I realize that now but at the time I thought I would just get the lay of the land so I could let Slick know what we were up against. I never expected to find a kid in a cage in the backyard."

"I believe you've beaten yourself up enough about this, but let it be a lesson to you. We travel in pairs and follow procedures. Got it?"

"I'm sorry boss. And yes, I've got it."

"That's it. I'll see you back in Trenton then. As is always the case when we go out of town for an apprehension, you can take the next few days off. And as much as I wanted to strangle you for being an ass, you did a good job."

"I wasn't planning on heading back right away. If you need help with the rapist case, I'd like to volunteer."

"We're good for now. We have six men and Stephanie assigned to it, but thank you."

I felt relieved. Not only for having a few days off, but for not getting fired. Thank you God. And didn't I hear Ranger commend me on a job well done? Thank you again.

_**Binkie's POV**_

I really couldn't see how Hal thought my lifestyle was interfering with my ability to do the job. I was still getting up at 5 am and working out before my shift. I wasn't tied down to a wife who expected me home for dinner at six so I could take on added responsibilities when asked. And unlike Lester, I didn't have a list at the front desk of women I didn't want to speak to ever again. Hell, I never even gave them a phone number or a last name for that matter. I was just Jason.

So what if I couldn't remember that our mechanic's wife was named Becky and that she worked as a waitress at Mario's. Does that make me a bad person?

And yeah I thought Hal was hitting on her, wouldn't anyone?

So when Dan arrived at the bar to pick up his wife I did what I assumed was the right thing to do. I apologized.

Dan walked in and caught sight of us before he even saw Becky, who was out back taking a break. He came over and sat down with Hal and I.

"I'm sorry man," I said after Mario brought over a beer for him. "I didn't remember right away that Becky was your wife…"

"What were you doing, hittin' on her?" he asked before I could finish my lame apology.

"No man but I thought Hal was," I said and laughed.

He looked at me strangely.

"You know, he knew her name and all. It's nothing," I added remembering Dan could probably kick my ass if I said anything unflattering about his wife.

"If it's nothing, why did you bring it up," he said and then I caught him wink at Hal.

I guessed he was playing with me too.

"The guys've been giving me shit about the women I've been going out with…"

"Whoa, whoa," Dan said, "from what I hear you don't 'go out' with anyone. You _go_ 'after' the women who'll put '_out_' for you.

His description was accurate, although it hurt to hear it put that way.

"Ok, ok guys, what would you like me to do?" I asked feeling defensive and getting frustrated about the whole thing. It had gone far enough.

"Maybe you need to get a little help." This came from Hal.

"Like what? Like an overeaters club? Fuck me."

"Like sexaholics anonymous. They have a support group in Hamilton every Wednesday."

"How do you know? Oh fuck, you actually looked that up with me in mind, didn't you? That's low Hal."

"I don't think it's so low. It says he's thinking about you," Dan said getting up. "I gotta go find Becky. You should think about it, Binkie. And this round was on the house. Mario said I should let you know."

Big deal…the brewskis were on the house. The bigger thing was that Dan somehow knew all about me.

I guess my life was like a fucking open book. Binkowski, the piss-poor kid from the broken home who only saw the shit side of relationships: make a baby, split up, get back together, make another baby then leave the woman to pick up the pieces. Not what I wanted for me but hey, I had no choice in the matter. And I didn't think I was anything like my father. He was an _alcoholic_.

Reminiscing to myself a little more while I took another pull on my beer, I remembered something else from my childhood. 'Condoms are your friend,' my brother said to me when I barely knew what a condom was. Friend, my ass. I can't feel anything with a condom on. Hell, I can't feel anything anyway. So what the fuck.

Yeah, maybe even with his fucked-up, mid-west way of showing me, Hal had a point.

"Ok, give me the address."


	20. Chapter 20

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 20

_**Slick's POV**_

I spent the later part of the morning doing research on hotels in South Beach. I wanted to find a nice romantic setting for my three-day weekend with Michelle. I liked the futuristic feel of the Delano so I texted her a picture of it.

'Where r u?' I got back.

'Sitting in my motel room researching.'

'How did ur meeting go?'

'Fine. I'll tell u about it when I see u."

'We still on for lunch?'

'Yes. I'll leave as soon as I make reservations. Like the place?'

'It's def unique.'

'Should we go for it?' I asked, texting her another picture of the poolside cabanas at night.

'They have the best spa in South Beach,' I added as extra incentive.

'Ok. Let's do it.'

'Penthouse or Bungalow?'

'Bungalow sounds romantic.'

'Ok Bungalow it is. I'll make a rese then head over to your shoot.'

'Hurry.'

'Am I missing something?'

'No but I'm missing u.'

Did she really say that?

'I'll be there in fifteen minutes.'

I decided to use our new celebrity status at Rangeman to its fullest so I called Lynn at the front desk. Silvio told me she had a way of making things like reservations happen. And she did get us into Il Gabbiano last night.

"Lynn it's Slick. I was wondering if you could help me with a reservation. I'm going to stay down in Miami for a few days and hoped to move my hotel to the Delano. Bungalow if possible."

"Just yourself?"

"No. Michelle is staying with me."

"Ok. Then you're right, you'll want one of the Bungalow suites. Very romantic. When did you want to check in?"

"Tomorrow afternoon if we can."

"Ok. Hold on."

I got Muzac when my call went to hold. I'd have to remind myself to talk to Ranger about that. I bet he didn't know about the corny music that played when his receptionist hit the hold button.

Lynn came back on about two minutes later.

"All the bungalows were taken. But I got you the honeymoon suite for the same price. Champagne and caviar included."

"Michelle might take that the wrong way."

"Well then don't tell her. Let her think it comes with _all_ the rooms. You can just say that all the bungalows were booked but they offered you an upgrade to a suite instead. You don't have to use the 'h' word."

Lynn was sharp. No wonder she was so well respected by the Miami office.

"I like that," I said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Enjoy your weekend. You can check in after three today."

"Today? I don't know that I can afford the honeymoon suite for _four _days?"

"Oh did I forget to mention I got you a free day?"

"You're the best Lynn. Thank you."

As soon as I hung up I gathered my things. I used the card key Michelle had given me this morning and gathered up her things as well. I checked us both out and drove the short distance to her shoot.

There was a huge bad-ass bouncer on the perimeter. He looked me over. I looked him over. Then I mentioned Michelle's name.

He mumbled something into his walkie-talkie and a woman came to the gate to greet me.

"Mr. Moore?"

"Yes?"

"Ms. Lore asked me to escort you to VIP seating."

You've got to be shitting me.

She grinned at my confused look then led me over to a few director's chairs that were under umbrellas, keeping the viewers out of the direct sun. Small LED monitors were stationed in front of each one.

Michelle was busy looking into one of the screens and shaking her head. Her brow was wrinkled and she didn't look happy.

"Babe," I said, unconsciously borrowing the endearment Ranger used for Stephanie, "Is everything ok?"

"Shaun. I'm so glad you're here," she replied looking up at me with a big smile on her face.

I touched her cheek apprehensively. Would it be ok to kiss her in front of her staff?

I guessed it was ok because she took the lead and brought her lips to mine in a soft but still suggestive kiss.

Shit. I wished we weren't on display.

"Guys, this is Shaun," she said. "Margaret, Kris, Elena," she went along, pointing out people and smiling.

"Can I get you something to drink?" the woman who picked me up at the gate asked.

"I'm good. But thanks."

"Well if you need anything I'm Grace, Ms. Lore's personal assistant."

Personal assistant? I'd have to ask Michelle about that one.

"Shaun, do you want to stay and have lunch with my staff and the crew here or would you rather go to a restaurant? Grace can get us reservations at Big Pink; it's right around the corner."

Jeez. Looked like everyone was able to get reservations here but me. That would have to change if we were going to be staying down here for the next few days.

"What do you want to do?" I asked her rather than giving my opinion, which was to be alone with her.

"Let's go out. Everyone's a little too nosy here," she whispered as an afterthought.

"Ok." Glad we were on the same page.

She called Grace over and within seconds we had a 12:30 reservation. It was only 11:30 now so we had an hour to kill.

"Want to see what we shot so far?" she asked calling over some big burly guy.

"Jake, this is Shaun, can you show him a few of the takes?"

I didn't even know what she was shooting, but I assumed from the two dogs on the set it was for pet food. I was shocked when Jake started reviewing film and the client was Nationwide Insurance. I personally hated those commercials, especially those people who couldn't sing.

"It's not what you're thinking Shaun," Michelle said, most likely picking up on my queasiness. "This is a new campaign."

It wasn't edited together yet, but it wasn't bad.

"It's Elena's first spot. Pretty good, right?"

It was.

I needed to change the subject and let Michelle know I checked both of us out of the motel.

"Baby," I said, taking her hand in mine, bringing it to my lips and kissing it, "I have all our bags in my car. I checked us out. We have confirmed reservations at the Delano so we can check in anytime after three today."

"Today? You packed up all my stuff?"

"I did. You gave me your key so I didn't think you'd mind. Your bags were very organized…I didn't have a lot to do."

"My shampoo and body wash? I left…"

"I got them. I double-checked all the rooms before I left. I have everything."

"Thank you Shaun. Four days in one of those bungalows you showed me? That should be nice."

"The Bungalows were all booked, but they gave us a suite for the same rate. Comes with champagne and caviar."

"Fancy."

"Nothing but the best for you." Then I kissed her, forgetting we were the center of attention.

"Get a room," one of the crew said.

"We already have one," Michelle answered breaking from the kiss, then taking my hand and leading me away from the multiple sets of prying eyes.

_**Ranger's POV**_

Today was long day. I'll admit to suffering a slight panic attack this evening when that serial rapist took Stephanie. Thankfully when we got to her she was safe and sound and holding the suspect at gunpoint. I also let Junior, Slick and Hector off the hook this morning. I gave the three of them a short lecture and a slap on the wrist before I let them know that despite their errant ways, they did a good job.

Maybe spending time with Stephanie was getting to me. I'd never been that lenient with them before. Junior looked especially relieved. He told me that he'd been worried about my course of action. They were good men; I would not fire them for taking matters into their own hands as long as the outcome was positive. I'd have to think long and hard about it though if we had to pick up the pieces from a botched apprehension.

Slick told me that he was staying in Miami with Michelle this weekend and that if I needed his help with anything, I should feel free to call him. I was pretty sure he was just saying that in relief of his lenient sentence, but I appreciated the effort.

I had already asked Silvio to run a search on Michelle. Thankfully she panned out or I would have been in the uncomfortable position of having to let him know that his sixth sense had been overridden by his third leg. As she told him, she came from a police family. Her father was the chief of police of Little Falls, New Jersey and her uncle a New York City detective working on special assignments. I thought the name sounded familiar—we'd collaborated with him before.

She had hand-to-hand and gun training and an advanced weapon skills certification. I would ask her about that when I had the opportunity. Even my men didn't _need_ that accreditation, although most went for it anyway.

I was sitting with my head in my hands thinking about this when Stephanie came out of the bathroom. She'd insisted on taking yet another shower before bed, although she already had two today. I guess it was to try to wash away the bad energy from our serial rapist, whose name we still didn't know.

"Babe, come and sit with me," I said, calling to her as she turned back towards the bedroom we now shared.

"I was just looking for you. I didn't see you in the bed so I wondered where you were. Give me five minutes to do my hair and I'll be right out."

True to her word, she came out less than five minutes later with a comb and some slick stuff in her hair. "What are you looking at Ranger?"

Before I had a chance to answer she pointed to her head, "Deep conditioner. I leave it in."

"This is the report on Michelle. I didn't want Slick to get blindsided if she wasn't who she said she was, so I asked Silvio to run a search."

"So is she legit?"

"She is, but what's bothering me is all her training. She has an advanced weapons certification. _We_ don't even ask for that."

"Maybe she was trying to prove something to her father. Didn't Slick say he was a chief of police somewhere?"

"Little Falls. And that's a very insightful answer. Although I do plan to ask her about it."

"Leave them alone. I'm sure they're trying to get to know one another. I bet they'll only come out of their hotel room for meals this weekend. And with room service, they don't even have to do that."

She had such a far-away look in her eyes—I couldn't help myself. "Is that what you'd like to do? Stay in my bedroom for a few days getting to know me?"

She looked up at me again, this time with an evil smile plastered on her face.

"Up for the challenge Batman?"

"We promised Julie a catamaran ride, but other than Saturday, I'm all yours."

"All mine? So I can ride you like Trigger any time I want?"

I'm afraid I let myself in for that one. "Yes, you can play _cowgirl_ if that will make you happy."

"I'll need a bandana, some rope and a knife."

"Babe!"

"Don't worry, bloodletting is very far down on my list. We may not even get to it."

_**Hal's POV**_

"Hal. It's Tank. Got a minute?" he asked. I had just given phone-duty back to Benny and was getting into the monitor-only phase of this shift when my Rangeman cell rang.

"There's no one else on monitors but me. Sal just took a break."

"That's ok. I'll be right over."

I wondered what he wanted. Tank tried to stay _out_ of the control room as much as possible.

"That reporter chick from the _Times of Trenton_ just called me," he said in lieu of a greeting. "She said that you told her it was ok to write an article about us and that you suggested she start with me."

I didn't know what to say. That lying bitch. I guess my face got red and gave my anger away before the words came out of my mouth because Tank took one look at me and started to laugh.

"You didn't say that did you?"

I shook my head. "I told her our company policy was no interviews and she'd have to call you if she wanted to change policy. I did _not _give her your number."

"I'm sure you didn't, but you gave her my name."

Oh shit. I did, didn't I?

"I'm sorry boss, it just slipped out…but she knew your last name, she recited it back to me. She probably would have gone through her list and called everyone until she got to a decision maker."

"I'm not the decision-maker on that, Ranger is. And I doubt he'll ever grant the press an interview…no matter what we do."

He was right of course. There were too many things about Rangeman that weren't press-worthy. And not just our private gun range and holding cells. I'm sure some of our employees would come into question too. Hector has some of the best skills of any Rangeman, but how he acquired those skills is definitely not a topic for discussion. Not now and not ever.

And I wasn't sure if Tank was going to call me to task for letting his name slip out. That was almost as large a faux pas as giving the press Ranger's full name. _He_ likes to keep his data to himself too. What a secretive bunch we were. Nope, definitely not news-worthy.


	21. Chapter 21

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 21

_**Back in Trenton: Sal's POV**_

I've spent a lot of time on overnight monitor duty. If truth be told, I preferred working the night shift. There was a quiet calm to the place at that hour and it put me into a relaxed state. As the father of two-year old twin boys, I needed calm.

In the early days of Rangeman, Ranger spent, I'd say, 6-months of the year running operations for the government. The rest were divided between growing his business and bringing in high-bond skips for Vincent Plum. Little-by-little the dynamic changed, his government ops were less and less and his time spent with the business was more and more.

It started off slow but over the years I noticed a pattern developing. As one of his ops grew close he would leave his apartment somewhere around 2 am and return before dawn. Having nothing better to do at that hour I became curious as to where he was going. I knew many of his missions were so dangerous he might not come back, so my suspicion was that he was spending time with high-class call girls. I mentioned this to Brett who was working monitors with me one night.

"Highly doubt that one. He wouldn't allow his body to become contaminated by the likes of them," Brett said. "He has very high_ personal_ standards."

I wasn't so sure about that, so one night I brought up his trackers to see where he was. I was shocked, but then again I wasn't. Both his car and his personal tracker were at Stephanie Plum's building.

Now our personal trackers are state of the art and acutely precise. They can detect heart rate patterns and relay this information back to our computer for later analysis. His heartbeat was very regular. Slow and steady. _Not_ a sleep pattern, or an exercise pattern for that matter.

If I had to guess he was probably _sitting_ in Stephanie's apartment. Maybe watching her chest rise and fall in sleep calmed him. I was talking out loud to myself about this when Hal overheard me.

"You think Ranger is doing _what_?" he said, interrupting my nighttime daydream.

"His trackers have him in Stephanie's apartment and his car in her lot. I think he's watching her sleep. He's leaving sometime tomorrow you know?"

"So I heard. Why are you tracking him?"

"I thought I recognized a pattern so I've been making some notes."

"If you are blogging about him, he will find out and you'll be dead. Just remember that. Gone. Never to be heard from again."

"No one but me will know what my notes mean. And they are _not_ publicly displayed."

"I would not be trying to set up a blackmail scheme on Ranger either."

"I wasn't even _thinking_ along those lines. I would never do that. Don't you know me by now?"

"Well then what _were _you thinking about?"

"I've just been wondering. It seems like he goes there to sit and watch her before leaving on a government assignment or even going to another Rangeman office for a few days. We all know there is some kind of connection between the two of them, so why aren't they a couple?"

"I'd say the cop is a big reason."

Possibly. But I still couldn't believe that one.

Let's cut to the present. Hal and I were on monitor duty the evening before Ranger, Steph, Junior, Slick and Hector were leaving for a few weeks in Florida. We all knew about the abducted teen and that Steph's search brought up a name that had _just_ — after five full years of looking — been given to Governor Christie's office. Ranger came into the control room a little before nine-thirty and pulled up some trackers. On a slow night a while ago, Hector had color-coded all of our personal blips and I could see by the bright magenta that popped up, that Ranger was looking at Stephanie's. He then closed down what he'd opened and left.

Minutes later Ranger's Porsche pulled out of the garage.

Hal didn't like me spying, but I couldn't help myself. After ten minutes, I was dying to know where he was headed. I pulled up his personal tracker and saw he was at an all-night bodega in the Spanish section of Hamilton. Not what I expected so I kept his tracker open in a small window on my screen while I did a slow scan of our accounts.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, I glimpsed at his trackers again and he was now in Steph's parking lot. I had to smile to myself as I opened up my Excel spreadsheet and made another entry.

_**Lester's POV**_

About a week ago while Stephanie was getting her legs waxed, I met a few of the strippers at the Teeze. After a very uncomfortable first encounter with Merry Crislis, we tried again. She really didn't have the hard exterior she initially exhibited, and by the end of Stephanie's waxing we had exchanged phone numbers.

I hadn't had a day off in the last two weeks, but this weekend I was free. I knew the biggest tips at the strip club were on weekends, but I thought I'd take a chance and see if she wanted to go out with me anyway.

I took her number from my wallet and placed a call.

"Crislis," she answered in that same brassy way she did when we first met.

"Hi Merry. It's Lester Santos. Cal's friend."

"Where the hell have you been?" she said obviously expecting me to have called her sooner.

"Working. I just did two weeks straight. Punishment, I think."

"Your boss was pissed?"

"Tank doesn't have much of a sense of humor. Are you free this weekend? I'd love to take you out."

"I'm working Saturday, but I have Friday and Sunday off."

"How about Friday night? Dinner and a movie maybe?"

"What movie?"

"What haven't you seen?"

"I haven't been to a movie in months, so anything that's currently playing is going to be new for me."

"_Elysium_?"

"Tell me about it."

"It takes place in the future. Earth is ruined and most of the population live on a space station…"

"Sounds good."

"You like futuristic?"

"I like the idea of sitting down for a couple of hours and watching someone else's life unfold. Mine's become too routine."

"I bet not," I said then changed the subject. "It's playing in Hamilton, so would you like to go to Malaga for dinner? It's Spanish."

"I've never been there. Sounds good."

"You don't get out much do you?"

"No between work and school my plate is pretty full."

"School? I didn't know you were going to school too. Not another biochemist?"

"No. That's Angelique. I'm in my last semester of pharmacy school at Thomas Edison."

"Admirable."

"Thanks. What time and should I meet you somewhere?"

"The movie starts at 9:10. I can pick you up at seven for dinner."

"Ok. Pick me up at the club. Come to the back door like you did with Cal and just knock."

She probably didn't want to give me her address on a first date. I could understand; but a strip club was a strange place to pick up a woman for a date. I guessed she read my mind.

"It's my home away from home, no one will think it's strange but you."

"Ok. Friday at seven at the club. See you then."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Merry was a beautiful woman and her 'in your face' personality made her even more intriguing to me. I wasn't used to strong women. I wondered if we'd make it through the night without getting into a fistfight. And that was part of the intrigue.

I hung up with Merry and took a walk to the breakroom in search of water. Cal was standing in front of the sandwiches that Ella had just brought down, staring at them like one might jump into his hand if he wished it hard enough.

"Ya gotta pick one of them. They're not coming to you," I said sneaking up behind him.

"Shit Lester, you scared the hell out of me."

"Need to be more aware. I just called Merry. Tell me a little about her."

"I don't know too much. We'd have conversations while I was waxing her. She's in pharmacy school. I think that's all I can tell you."

"Do you know where she lives? She asked me to pick her up at the club. I thought that a little odd."

"Not odd at all. You saw the chairs. Those are Merry's. She bought them for the place so we'd have something to sit on. I think she considers that backroom her personal space."

"Does she live nearby?"

"I'm not sure. She may live in one of the affordable housing units near Thomas Edison. I think she mentioned something once about a roommate too."

"Guy?" I said wanting to know if I was getting into something that might not end well.

"I don't think so. Why don't you just ask her?"

"I'd rather learn what I can first. I was going to run a search on her, but I thought asking you might be easier."

"I honestly don't know any more than what I've told you. I think she's originally from Pittsburgh. Run your search."

_**Benny's POV**_

I don't know how I got roped into this. I'm just the receptionist. I took this job to replace my security gig at the recycling center. They called me a _rent-a-cop_, for crying out loud. At least there is some prestige to working for Rangeman. I'm treated well and no one gives me shit for still working at age 70. My faculties are good, so why not work? I can't sit at home with Joyce and watch her daytime shows; I'd go nuts. So why do I feel bad about being roped into acting as a spy?

Two steps back—did I say I was asked to spy on my boss? No? Well that's key. It seems like everyone had preconceived ideas about Ranger's love life. Some said he was gay. Some had him living a double life as a Dominant and some thought he was just hiding from his true feelings. Those being for Stephanie Plum.

I had no dyed-in-the-wool thoughts on anything—except that I wanted to keep my job.

Lester and Cal approached me one day and said they needed my help. I should have known something was up if those two were doing the asking. Lester explained the situation and somehow against my better judgment I agreed. So now I'm supposed to keep my eyes and ears open and make notes if something seems out of the ordinary.

I already have eight out-going calls from Ranger's desk to either Stephanie's home or her cell and I've just been doing this sneaking around for a little over two weeks. Mind you, I don't listen in; I just make notes of any activity.

But eight calls in twelve working days got me to thinking. So I just pulled out my log to look at the times and most were after five in the evening. I'm betting most of those weren't _work-related_ calls.

And now I heard that Ranger and Steph are on assignment together in Miami and rumor has it that she's staying in his apartment there. If I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with an answer to the _Ranger love-life dilemma_ I'd say he's been hiding his feelings.

I figured we'd get to the bottom of it when they got back. If the after-five calls continued and Stephanie wasn't involved in any distractions or high-priority searches for us, I'd even place a wager on it. There. I said it.

"Benny, what's up?" Woody said, passing the reception desk and taking me out of my thoughts.

"Oh hey Woodrow." I always called him by his given name. "You coming off rotation?" I answered his question with another.

"I'm just waiting for Brett; we came back here to pick up the paperwork on a high-bond skip. We haven't had the pleasure of kicking butt in a while."

"I thought we were out of that business?"

"I guess with Steph down in Miami, Vinnie's desperate enough to pay our rates."

"Yeah, I just heard they were in Miami. What do you know about it?" I asked trying to wheedle some information out of him.

"Not much, but I certainly got an eyeful the other day before they left."

"An eyeful?"

"I just came out of the men's room and I don't think they thought anyone was around. Even if he has no passion for anything other than work, that man has passion for Stephanie. Let me tell you."

"So you think the rumors are true?"

"I'd be surprised to hear anything else. And I didn't see her pushing him away either, but don't go spreading that one."

"I'm not spreading anything. Where was this?"

"Right at the elevator there," he said pointing to the bank in front of the reception desk.

Hmmm. That doesn't sound like _hiding_ his feelings to me. More like letting them out in the open.


	22. Chapter 22

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

More than a little smut warning :)

Chapter 22

_**Back in Miami; Slick's POV**_

Michelle took me by my hand and led me off premises. I could only imagine what her staff thought. I forgot for a minute that all eyes were upon us and I bent down and kissed her. Not just a peck on the cheek either. I knew I rekindled our night together and she kissed me back with as much feeling as I put into my kiss. One of the crew had the audacity to yell out 'get a room.' I was glad Michelle countered him with 'we already have one' and took my hand in hers to walk off set.

"Baby, I don't want to get you in trouble," I said as we walked towards her car.

"It's ok Shaun, they need to see that I can be turned on by something besides advertising. There hasn't been a man in my life since before most of them came on board. Well at least not a man I cared about."

"If you're saying you care Michelle, that's a bold statement."

"I know. I guess you won my heart over this morning. No one other than my mother has treated me that lovingly…ever."

"Honestly?"

"Yeah. Honestly."

"Thank you. I appreciate that and I really care about you too."

"I know. You told me."

"No. I told you I loved you. Now I'm telling you that I care about you. I care how you feel and I don't want to see you hurting. Why don't we take my car," I added changing the subject as we approached the parking lot. "I have our suitcases and we can check into the hotel after lunch."

"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea. If I'm anywhere near a bed with you, we may not be leaving for a few hours."

"So?"

"I'm supposed to be watching this shoot. It's Elena's first commercial."

"And how is she doing so far?"

"She's doing great. I haven't made one change."

"So maybe it's time to cut the cord and let her carry her own weight. You said you came down here on your own because _you_ were nervous. Is there anything to be nervous about?"

"I guess not…"

"So call her. Tell her that you're good with everything she's been doing and she's in charge. We'll only be five minutes away and we can come back if she's uncomfortable with something. Maybe she can send you stuff to look at if you're still _nervous_ in a few hours. Although I intend to keep you so distracted you won't be nervous about anything."

"You're right. It _is_ time to cut the cord. I'll call her after lunch. So tell me…how are you going to distract me?"

"I'd rather show you baby," I said stopping to kiss her once more.

"You do that again" she said when we finally broke apart, "and we may not make it to the hotel."

"Nice thought, but somehow I can't see you fucking me in a parking lot," I whispered, drawing out the word '_fucking,_' then biting her ear teasingly.

"Well then you don't know me very well. Where did you park?"

God, she was going to be the death of me…beautiful, sexy _and_ daring.

"I think it would be better for your reputation if we made it to our hotel. We can't check in until three, but we do have lunch reservations and can go to the beach after that."

"Shaun, do you think this is fate?"

"What's fate?"

"That we were both here on business, found each other and…God you keep doing that to me and I'll be gel," she said as I moved her hair out of the way to run my tongue along the sweet spot between her neck and her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, it's fate alright."

I knew I had to get us out of here as quickly as possible. Yeah, the car had tinted windows, but it wasn't soundproof.

"Tell me about this Big Pink place," I said changing the subject and giving my dick a chance to calm down.

"American diner food, I think. At least that's what Grace said. Burgers, fries, pizza, waffles."

"And we needed a reservation for that?" I asked slightly confused.

"She said it has a good reputation and there's a bunch of tourists down here now. Why, do you want to take a chance and go somewhere else?"

"Maybe we can get into the restaurant at our hotel. I'm just not sure I'm up for a bunch of screaming kids throwing food at each other. It's not very romantic."

"You didn't say you wanted romantic…"

She couldn't finish her sentence because my mouth fell on hers. When we broke from the kiss I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called the number still in memory. After I explained we were guests but couldn't get into our room until three, we had not only lunch reservations at their restaurant Bianca, but also a courtesy cabana and use of the pool and private beach.

"Should we take two cars, Shaun?" she asked when I told her. "We don't want to come back here do we?"

"It's a rental, right?"

"Um. Budget."

"I'll have my office call them and let them know where the car is parked. Let's just leave it open and the keys under the visor. We won't need two cars. I don't want to be more than a couple of feet from you for the next few days."

"I don't think they do pickups."

"Don't worry about it. _Someone_ will pick up the car," I said knowing we didn't even need to leave keys and still counting on my new reputation with the Miami office to deliver on my promise to Michelle.

_**Ranger's POV**_

I had all three of the things Stephanie was asking for in the apartment. I went to my chest of drawers and pulled out a blue and white bandana. I used to wear it on runs when my hair was longer. It kept the sweat out of my eyes. I then went into my gun safe in the walk-in closet. I kept a couple of specialty knives in there. I pulled out one with a sheath, took some rope from a shelf and gave the items to Steph.

I was already excited by the prospect of what she would do with them.

"Can you braid my hair for me Ranger?" she asked, causing me to look at her apprehensively.

"And you'll be using _that_ for what?"

"Nothing kinky. Just want it out of my face and a braid is good for the deep conditioner. You do know how to braid, don't you?"

Of course I knew how to braid hair and to prove it to her, I took the comb she was offering me, sectioned her hair into pieces and starting at the top, created a nice taut French braid.

She was smiling at me evilly when she took the bandana from the kitchen counter where she'd discarded it.

"I'm going to blindfold you, then lead you to the bedroom."

I did promise her, so I let her do what I'd never let anyone else do to me willingly. She folded the bandana into a triangle then rolled it to work as a blindfold. She pushed me down into the chair and put the blinder over my eyes. I heard her pick up the knife and rope, then she took me by my hand—and not too gently, I might add—and led me to the bedroom we shared.

"Strip," she ordered. This was going to be interesting.

I didn't have much on except for a pair of lounge pants, so I shimmied them off of my hips and stepped out of them.

"On the bed."

I could always use the excuse that I didn't know where the bed was…I was blindfolded, but that wasn't going to work with Steph. She knew I had a sixth sense about everything. So I took a couple of steps in the direction of the bed.

"Stop. That's far enough," she said, pulling me back mid-walk.

"The bed is still another three feet to the left," I countered.

"I know. This will do. On your hands and knees."

"Babe."

"Now."

I wanted to see where she was heading with this, so I got down on my hands and knees. There was just a wood floor under me, so it was going to be uncomfortable to remain in this position for too long.

"You said I could ride you," she spoke, getting on my back. I could feel the soft hair of her pussy against my skin so at some point she must have stripped too. Suddenly she reached down and brought something to my face.

"Bridle Ranger, open your mouth."

I had no idea what she was doing until I felt the rope slip between my teeth. Of course I knew that at any point I could flip her over and regain the upper hand so I let her continue on her journey.

Suddenly I felt the other end of the rope smack me on my ass.

"Giddy-up," she said, hitting me in the ass again.

Now I was strong and she didn't weigh that much, but I wasn't going to play horsey all night. I took two steps forward then flipped us over so I was on top and she was pinned beneath me.

"And where do you think you were going with this?" I asked, taking off my blindfold to see that she was indeed naked.

"You said I could ride you like Trigger."

"I did. _And_ you did. Now it's my turn," I said using the rope to tie her hands together. Two could play at this game.

I could tell by her eyes that she was very aroused, so I just flipped her back over and entered her. I didn't want to hurt her so I waited a few beats for her to stretch to accommodate me, then I pumped into her hard. Don't ever let it be said that women don't like to be taken; it's a huge primal turn-on.

"Oh God," she said a little breathless, although I knew she hadn't come yet.

"Mmmm," I muttered, taking in her scent and thrusting into her again, slower this time. If we were going to spend the whole weekend fucking, she was going to get the fuck of her life.

No foreplay; I went straight for it. I knew the angle to hit her from if I wanted her to have a pure g-spot orgasm. I was pretty sure the cop hadn't done this to her before and that she didn't know what to expect. At least she wasn't dry and my thrusting didn't irritate either of us. I kept at it until I felt her body fluids bathe us in a natural lubricant. And then I could tell she was going to come. Her breathing changed and she arched as I thrust into her.

"Ran-ger," she could barely say, as she came hard and deep to my last thrust.

"Mmm Babe," I said pumping into her from a slightly different angle. She came again, writhing this time in total ecstasy.

Of course I wasn't done with her yet—she had many more orgasms left in her, but she needed a little time to recuperate. I held her to me so we could breathe together as I've done in the past to calm her, our breath finally becoming one. I was still in her and I was still hard, so to move on to a clitoral orgasm was easy. I changed my angle so that I hit her clit on every thrust. Then I pulled out entirely, leaving her wanting more.

"Ranger?" she said sadly but before she could be too sad about me leaving her vagina I had my tongue deep in her, laving up all her juices and stimulating her with my tongue.

"Oh my God," she said, arching in appreciation and coming once again to my advances.

I knew that unless I went for tantric sex, I'd be good for about two orgasms before I was spent for a while and right now I didn't want to explain to Stephanie how I could come without ejaculating, so I thrust into her once more and let my semen pulse—filling her with warm fluid.

"Oh God…Ranger," she said as she came once again…in time to my pulsating semen this time.

_**Slick's POV**_

We had just finished lunch at Bianca and were shown to the cabana they gave us for the afternoon until our room was ready. It sat poolside and maybe fifty yards from the Atlantic, but it was our own oasis. In order to change into our bathing suits, I closed the heavy canvas curtain, blocking out all light and a good amount of sound from the outside.

I caught sight of Michelle's very naked labia as she pulled off her underwear. Just seeing her red and slightly swollen from my touches earlier set me off. My dick rose to the occasion and I turned to show her.

I held myself in both hands and came towards her. I was heavy and pulsating. I wasn't sure if she saw the size of me last night, but I wasn't a small man at full erection. I stood before her with all seven and a half inches seeking entrance, a little bit of precome wetting my glans.

She looked at me and moaned. I was hoping my stroking her leg during lunch turned her on a bit and when she pulled me to her, I knew it did.

"Oh God Shaun," she said looking at my manhood closely. "Are you going to fit?"

"I did last night baby. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. I promise." I reached back into my jeans and took a condom out of the pocket. Crazy I wasn't.

"Lubricated," I said when she looked at me, as if that was an explanation for my desire to be safe.

"Just a question. Do you even fit in that?"

"Michelle, I'm not that big."

"Endowed. I think that's what they call it. And I think you're beautiful."

"Women are beautiful. Men are _handsome_."

"I was talking about your _endowment_. He's beautiful." And suddenly she had me in her mouth. "Mmmm and you taste good too," she said somehow speaking at the same time she swirled her tongue around me. God it felt so good.

"Mr. Moore?" I heard from outside our cabana, Michelle still giving me head.

"Baby, someone's here," I whispered.

"Yes?" I called louder.

"Your complimentary champagne and caviar are here. I'm leaving them outside, but don't be too long, the sun is strong and the champagne might explode."

"Thank you. I'll be right out."

I pulled on my bathing suit, which I discarded when my dick had other plans and opened the canvas closure of the cabana slightly. Sure enough there was a bottle of champagne, a silver bowl of caviar and some toast points. I picked up the serving tray and brought the contents back inside.

I was glad to see Michelle was still naked, her lips red and slightly swollen from going down on me. She looked gorgeous.

"Champagne and caviar. Care for a little?"

I removed my bathing suit before I removed the wire on the champagne bottle. Naked, sipping on champagne and each other held a larger draw for me than taking a dip in the pool. And I'd rather take a dip into Michelle when the time was right.

I slowly eased the cork out of the bottle and poured us two glasses. I handed one to Michelle and I took the other.

"To us baby. Here's to a nice weekend."

"To us Shaun," she returned my toast and clinked glasses with me.

She put down her glass of champagne and took one of the toast points from the serving tray. She used the small knife to put some caviar on the toast and brought it to my mouth.

"Shall we share this?" she asked, offering me a bite.

After I took a small piece she took a bite, then leaned over and kissed me. Her mouth tasted like caviar, champagne and me. God it was such a turn on.


	23. Chapter 23

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 23

_**Junior's POV**_

I was on the turnpike, driving north towards Orlando when my phone rang. It was Hector.

"Where are you man?" he asked me in Spanish.

"On my way to Disney World. Why is something up?"

"Sí y no." Yes and no he said.

"What does that mean?"

"We have a situation here and I'm heading back to Trenton in the am. Any chance you can make it back to Miami in the next twenty-four hours?"

"Speak English and tell me what's going on," I asked before his Spanish turned colloquial and I couldn't understand _anything_ he was saying.

"Ernesto called me into his office since I'm the only one who's still here that was involved with the kidnapping case. Diego Santana just hung himself in his cell."

"Shit. Now this won't be the cut and dry trial everyone was hoping for."

"Um hum. We've been asked to help out and need to get some legwork done. You're the best one of us at that shit. Well, aside from Ranger who isn't answering his cell, landline, texts or emails."

"I'm about an hour south of Orlando—I'll need a few hours to get back to Miami."

"Any chance you can get Slick to help out too?"

"Doubt it. He's taking a long weekend with Michelle."

"Silvio said _he's_ available. Call Ernesto and let him know you're onboard. I'll do what I can from Trenton when I get back. You ok with this man?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. I wasn't doing anything special—I just had an urge to go to Space Mountain."

"I'm sure you can get a week off when you're done. Space Mountain isn't going anywhere. Thanks again."

"Hey, did you ever have your dinner with Argo?"

"Yeah and we went clubbing afterwards. He's a good guy. He just picked up a corporate account back to New York so I'm flying up with him in the morning."

Hector's a pretty private guy so I didn't want to ask too many questions.

After I hung up, I exited the Turnpike so I could turn around and head back to Miami. Unfortunately my stomach told me it needed another plan so I set my sights on the mini mall that I saw in the distance. I was hoping for a Seven Eleven but the Mexican place I stumbled on looked even better.

It didn't have a lot of atmosphere, but when you're hungry atmosphere doesn't do much for the grumblings. I ordered their three-taco lunch platter and sat down while I waited for it to arrive. I pulled my phone out of my jeans to check emails and saw that I had a couple of voicemails too.

The first one was from Tank and the second was from an 800 number. Jeez, _again_? I thought my phone automatically blocked those calls?

I listened to Tank's message then motioned to the waiter that I was going out to take a call. I stood outside the restaurant and listened again to make sure I was hearing correctly.

I'd tell you what the message said, but it would be faster and easier if we just listened in on my call to Tank.

"Boss? It's Junior. Tell me this again."

"I got a call around 10 am this morning from Bonnie, that woman you've been seeing off and on?"

"Yeah?"

"She's been trying to reach you."

"Ok. Well she hasn't called me...at least not yet."

"Oh? She says she has…many times…but don't worry, she _will_. Looks like you're going to be a father."

"What the fu…?"

"Check your phone messages. She said she's been desperate to reach you."

"I've just had some calls from an 800 number. I thought Rangeman didn't let 800 numbers through our system so I deleted them. That's it."

"You deleted them without listening?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want to speculate, but I bet they were from Bonnie."

"Shit."

"Check your phone."

I only had one old call available, so after I hung up with Tank I checked the message.

"Junior, it's Bonnie. I've been trying to reach you for a little over a week. Your boss said you've been out of town. Call me please. This is important."

I needed a few minutes to organize my thoughts before I called her back. It seemed like Slick was in love and Ranger was in love, but _I_ was the one that was going to be a father. Somehow this wasn't working out the way I planned.

I could go back inside and eat or I could call her now. I looked through the plate glass window to where I had been sitting and my food hadn't arrived yet. I scrolled through my contact list and called Bonnie.

"Bon…"

"Oh thank God, Junior. I've been trying to reach you all week…"

"I heard. Tank called me."

"I'm sorry. You weren't calling me back and I wanted to make sure nothing happened to you…"

"I've been down in Florida on business. Why were you calling me from an 800 number? I always delete those calls."

"I wasn't? Oh shit…I've been calling you from work and I guess I've been using their 800 line. I'm sorry. Listen, this isn't easy." Insert pregnant pause. "I'm pregnant."

"Me?" I asked after a couple of beats.

"Has to be, there was no one else."

"I thought you were on the pill?"

"I am. Well, was. Obviously we're the one percent."

Shit. "What do you want to do?"

"I was hoping we could sit down, talk about this and come up with a plan we can both live with."

Well at least she was including me.

"I just got called back to work so I won't be back in Trenton for a few days. Any chance you can come down here for the weekend? I'll have to work, but I think a good part of it I can do from my laptop. I'll pick up your airfare and the hotel room. I feel like a heel, Bon."

"I guess I'm as much to blame as you are. Ok, I just googled and I found a $275 round-trip to Tampa from Philly. Or a $289 out of Trenton on Frontier."

"Book the Frontier flight. Use my credit card. I'll pick you up in Tampa, just let me know when it gets in."

"Ok hold on, I'm going to do it now."

"Bonnie, my food just arrived," I said noticing the waiter bringing a tray to my table. "Hold on, I'm going to ask them to pack it up to go."

"Don't be silly. Eat your food. Call me back when you're done. In the meantime I'll book the flight."

"Ok. Thanks. And Bonnie, I'm sorry."

"Yeah me too. _Eat_."

Shit. Well at least we were going to talk about this and I already knew what I'd like to do. There was always a fifty-fifty chance she was thinking the same thing.

_**Slick's POV**_

Michelle had gone in search of a bathroom when my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Junior. If it had been anyone else I wouldn't have answered, but since it was my partner, I hit the reply button.

"I thought you were in Disney World," I said.

"Tried to get there. Hector called and then Tank. You have a minute?"

Junior never asked for my time. "Probably more," I supposed knowing how long women usually took in the bathroom.

"What would you do if a woman you kind of saw off and on told you she was pregnant?"

"I'd ask if she knew for certain that it was mine."

"It is."

"Shit Junior, you should know to protect yourself…"

"I thought we were safe. Obviously contraception failed."

"Bonnie?"

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do?"

"She's on her way here. We're going to talk…"

"What do _you_ want?"

"Well my number one answer would be to terminate the pregnancy. A baby would screw up both of our long-term plans. I don't know what she's thinking though…for all I know she may want to raise it herself and make me an absentee father."

"She called you man…I think she wants your opinion. But are you prepared for the worst?"

"The worst?"

"Quick marriage. Divorce. Child support. Alimony."

"She wouldn't do that to me. She's already acknowledged it's just as much her fault as it is mine."

"To you." Long pause. "Tell me what Hector and Tank wanted," I added not wanting to leave the conversation on a negative, although I had heard enough in my thirty-two years to know _all_ the shit that's been pulled on friends of mine.

"Hector asked for Ernesto if I could come back to Miami and work this weekend. Diego Santana hung himself in his cell and we've been asked to do some footwork."

"God."

"I said yes, but that was before I found out about Bonnie. And Bonnie called Tank when she couldn't reach me. So he was actually the person who told me that Bonnie was pregnant."

"She told _him_?"

"I think she thought I was dead or injured. She'd been calling me from her work's 800 number and since I thought Rangeman filtered out 800 numbers, I'd been deleting all those calls."

"She know this?"

"I told her."

"You better wine and dine her this weekend."

"No wine man, remember?"

"Depends on her decision. I see Michelle walking back. Let me know what happens. Call me ok?"

"Oh I will."

"Shaun were you on the phone?" Michelle asked as she got close enough to see me hang up and put my phone back into my jeans pocket.

"Junior," I said hoping that was enough and I didn't have to go into detail.

"Oh…everything ok?"

"He's been asked to head back to Miami and work the weekend. The giant freak hung himself in his cell."

"Shit. Did they ask you to work too?"

"No. I'm sure he told them I was spending the weekend with you."

"And that would be enough?"

I wasn't sure what to tell her. That I'd never even considered being part of a couple before? Or that I was sure Junior told them _not_ to call me for the same reason?

"The guys have a sixth sense," I said instead. "They knew I wanted to be with you."

"Oh?"

I could tell she was bewildered by that. If we remained together back in Jersey, I'd have to bring her to one of our _family_ get-togethers. Then she could meet the guys, Bonnie, Sal's wife Jessica, his boys and Benny's daughter and grandkids. That was the closest most of us came to family, but it was a tight bond.

This time it was Michelle that changed the subject. "It's after three, maybe our room is ready?"

"I thought you wanted to go for a swim. Fifty laps?"

"I can think of another source of exercise," she said breaking the distance between us, wrapping her arms around me and giving me a kiss.

"You want to stay here while I go to the front desk?"

"I'll come with you."

Turned out our room was ready for us. A bellhop helped us with the bags we stowed behind the front desk and we took the elevator to the Penthouse. It was a great space, no wonder it was usually the honeymoon suite.

When I tipped the bellhop, he turned to me and said, "Enjoy your hon…"

Before he could get the rest out I gave him the double daggers look and shut the door on him. Not something Michelle needed to hear.

"Shaun, come here," I heard from a distant room. "Look. The bed is under a canopy."

_**Lester's POV**_

I was thinking about the evening ahead of me as I showered. It had been a long day. I had promised Steph I'd take care of her skips for her while she was in Florida but I didn't expect to get a call from Connie this morning with three new ones. I don't like to leave things to the last minute and since I was finally off this weekend, I had no desire to work it, so with Manny's help we rounded up all three. Now I knew why Steph was constantly rolling in garbage. Those guys just did not want to go back into the system.

Let me clarify that last statement, now I knew why _Steph_ was constantly rolling in garbage. Manny and I took them in staying clean and dry, but I could see the potential for getting smeared with something from all three of them. Low lives Ranger would call them.

Thinking about Ranger and Steph made me wonder how they were doing. Of course I wouldn't call her, but I was just wondering. And that made me wonder how my date with Merry would turn out tonight. Suddenly my dick started twitching. "Down boy," I said to it, "don't get your hopes up. Just because she makes money as a stripper doesn't mean she's going to give you a private showing."

My dick didn't want to hear anything about _not_ finding a warm place to park tonight and he went from twitching to full out hard. I could either take matters into my own hands or I could try to think him down. I decided the faster of the two would be to use my hands.

God. It wasn't the release I was looking for, but a do-it-your-selfer never was. Maybe I'd get lucky later…but I doubted it.

I dried off and put on a pair of dark-grey tailored Armani dress slacks and a button down white shirt. I took care in rolling up the sleeves to expose my forearm flexors. The combination played up my physical attributes and when I caught sight of myself in the full-length mirror I smiled back at my reflection. Hopefully Merry would like what she saw too.

I added a little gel to my hair, then took off for the garage. I had my vintage '68 1/2 Mustang convertible with its 428cid engine, power that was unheard of for its time, parked in a safe corner. I lowered the top, fobbed myself out of the building and set off for the club.

Now Rangeman is strategically situated and is no more than ten minutes from any part of Trenton. I was by the back door to the club in less than that. I checked myself in the rear-view mirror then got out to knock on the back door.

Sunny answered my knock.

"Looking good Santos," she said, giving me an up and down before letting me enter. "Merry's changing, give her a few minutes."

"You think she'll get pissed if I sit on her chair?" I asked, ignoring my own question and sitting down on one of the molded plastic chairs that kept guard outside the wax room.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm working tonight so you're on your own. Have fun," she said and winked at me.


	24. Chapter 24

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

A little smut warning**:)** (I guess that's a big smile)

Chapter 24

_**Erik's POV**_

Things in Trenton were just plain weird. Most of the players were out of town and Tank was being a huge pain in the ass to those of us who weren't. I really wondered what that was all about although I could guess it had something to do with Slick and Junior.

I'd heard through the grapevine that Slick met a woman. Good for him. What I also heard was that Ranger asked Silvio to run a search on her and it came up that she had some kind of an advanced weapons certification. Shit. Even I didn't have one of those. I also heard she was in advertising so the weapons thing made no sense and Tank took it upon himself to run a search on her father and uncle who were both in law enforcement.

They came up clean and it turned out the uncle was someone we'd partnered with a while back. He was some kind of bad-ass detective with the NYPD. I could see the advanced certification. What if the uncle pissed someone off and he was looking to get even? Slick's girl would probably make a good target and I bet she also did it to prove something to her family. It doesn't take a genius to see through those things.

I also heard that Junior's sometimes chick, Bonnie, was pregnant and hadn't been able to reach him for a week, so she got nervous and called Tank. Raphael was in his cube and Tank was in the break room when Junior called him back. Now Tank's voice carries and Raphael overheard Tank telling him he was going to be a father. So it seems like that one is confirmed.

I'm sure that was the last thing Junior expected to hear. Fatherhood is a life-altering situation, so I wondered what he was going to do. It wasn't like he had a desk job like Sal; he was on the street, sometimes in full-combat gear.

I was still thinking about this when Cal stopped by. We were teamed up today and had about a half-an-hour before our rotation started. Cal is more of a doer than a talker and in case he didn't know, I wanted to tell him what I'd just learned.

"Hear about Junior?"

"What about Junior?"

I guessed right. He hadn't heard the news yet. I gave him the three-minute version and he just shook his head.

"Shit. That's my worst nightmare. You talk to him?"

"No."

"I'll call him. He could probably use a shoulder."

"I heard he volunteered to work the weekend; he may not be taking calls."

"So he'll call me back when he has a chance."

Cal took his phone out of his pocket and walked in the direction of the break room. I guessed he was going to call him. I wasn't going to strain my ears to listen so I went back to finishing up the report I started earlier. Too much goddamn paperwork here, if you ask me.

_**Ranger's POV**_

I'd been speaking with Tank here and there and he knew I was taking myself off-line for a few days. I wanted to spend time with Stephanie. If this thing we had going on could be mended and given a chance to develop, I was going to give it one hundred percent of my attention.

Unfortunately my phone buzzed for the second time in fifteen minutes and I lifted it from the night table to see who was calling me.

Tank.

Steph was still sleeping, so I picked up the phone, got out of bed and made my way to my office to talk to him.

"We have a bit of a situation here," he said.

"Talk."

He told me about his phone call from Bonnie. It seemed to me it was a little out of character for Junior to _not_ take calls from her. He brought her to all Rangeman events and we all knew her. I shared my thoughts with Tank and he said he was going to call Junior and if he had to tell him about Bonnie's confession, he would. I wished him luck and went back to Steph.

It was a little after ten in the morning, so when I felt her stir as I got back into bed I put my arms around her and pulled her to me.

"Babe," I said ruffling her hair that was sticking out in a mass of curls in every direction, "looking good."

"Ranger! I know what I look like in the morning and 'good' isn't how I would describe this mop."

"I think it's beautiful. I think you're beautiful," I said pulling her to me and kissing her.

"Did you just come back from working out?"

"No I was lying here watching you sleep. Well, until Tank called."

"No workout this morning? What did Tank want?"

"I wanted to be here when you woke up. And there's a situation with one of the men. Tank wanted to bring me up to speed."

"No one got hurt did they?"

"No. Well not physically anyway. I'll tell you over breakfast. Shower and I'll make coffee and omelets."

"_You're_ going to cook?"

"I'll have you know, I'm the king of omelets and I'm sure Lynn stocked the refrigerator with anything we'd need."

"Would it be too much to ask for dessert?"

"I thought I was your _dessert_ this weekend. You have my undivided attention all day. Should we take the Cat out after breakfast?"

"I thought we were saving that for Julie tomorrow."

"Yeah but there's a catamaran ride and then there's the _adult_ version. I know a great little alcove with a beach where we can be alone. I'll call ahead and have lunch sent up to the boat."

"Tastykakes?"

"Babe."

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

While Steph showered, I made coffee and chopped vegetables for my low-fat, egg white omelets. I sautéed the green pepper, tomatoes and onion and put them aside while I carefully divided the eggs, adding just the slightest bit of yolk for color and consistency and had the omelet pan out and heating when Stephanie walked into the kitchen.

The water was at full-boil, so I poured it into the two French-press carafes I had outfitted with fresh ground coffee and handed one to Stephanie.

I had milk and sugar on the table and didn't want to know how much of both she added to her coffee. I took mine black.

Once she was settled in and had taken a few sips of coffee, I added the eggs to the sizzling pan. As they started to set, I introduced the sautéed vegetables and low fat pepper jack cheese to the mix. I knew Steph wouldn't miss the fat and extra calories. This was a tried and true recipe.

I made hers first and after I flipped and folded it like an expert, I slid it out of the pan and handed it to her.

"Very professional Ranger, how did you learn to do this?"

"I'm one of six kids." I told her as if that were the answer. Truth be known, my mother spoiled all of us and we never had to cook for ourselves until we were out of the house.

"Oh my God Ranger," she said, moaning a little after taking a bite. "This is the best omelet I've ever had. God," she moaned again.

That last moan hit a chord with my dick and he elevated in appreciation. According to my plan we didn't have time for a prelude, so I used all the powers I had to send him back to a flaccid state. I hoped to make him happy a little later in the day.

After breakfast I found Steph in the walk-in closet looking at the bathing suits Ella FedExed down for her. She had a tankini in one hand and a bikini in the other.

"Bikini," I said imagining just how sexy she'd look in it.

"You don't think my butt is too big for this one?"

"No Babe, it's perfect and I bet Ella has your size right too. Why don't you try it on?"

I didn't expect her to strip in the closet, but then again she's surprised me a lot this week. She wiggled out of the boy shorts she was wearing and picked up the bottoms. I caught sight of her dark pubic hair against pale skin and had to do a little talking to my dick again. Once I had him under control I could look up and appreciate the view in front of me. Steph looked beautiful in the dark blue and orange abstract koi print suit.

"How do I look?"

"Very sexy Babe. But don't worry, you'll have an audience of one, and I don't intend for that to stay on you for too long."

I could tell she didn't believe me. She had odd perceptions about her body. She thought her breasts were too small and her butt too big.

"Take a look in the mirror," I said, sidestepping out of her way so she could see the full-length mirror I was blocking.

It was at that moment that I caught sight of the rings on her left hand. The distraction was over, so I wondered why she still had them on. Not that I minded, I liked seeing them on her. I picked them out with her in mind.

I reached for her hand and rubbed my fingers over them. It was as much to feel them on her as to give her a nod that she had them on.

"I know. I'm keeping them on. Maybe they'll bring me luck; they did in Hawaii."

"Luck?"

She bit her lower lip and looked up at me. I had a feeling that last part of her statement wasn't meant for me to hear.

"You don't need luck. I feel lucky to be with you, but wear them if you want; they look beautiful on your finger. Maybe one day we can make them a permanent addition," I added almost in a whisper.

"What did you say Ranger?"

I wasn't going to lie to her.

"I was just thinking out loud."

"Say it again, please."

"I said, 'maybe one day we can make them a permanent addition,'" I repeated, running my fingers over the rings again, pulling her to me and kissing her before she had a chance to respond.

"What did you mean by that?" she asked when we broke apart.

"Just what I said. Come on Babe, let's head over to the catamaran before the winds change."

She threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top. I grabbed the bag that I'd packed earlier with a blanket, sunscreen, towels, water and a change of clothes for both of us. I had called ahead to ready my boat and to have the gourmet deli deliver lunch. I hoped both had been done so we could get out on the water before the winds shifted in the marina. It was much prettier to sail out of the enclosure than to have to use the motors.

I hadn't had a chance to tell Steph about Bonnie, so I relayed what I knew in the car.

"Did you call Junior?" she asked me.

"No. I don't think he'd be happy if that became common knowledge. It's my company so Tank felt the need to tell me."

"I'm a little worried about him. I hope he's ok," she said making me smile. She was always concerned for everyone else.

"I'm sure he'll be fine and they will work it out," I said parking the Cayenne. "Ready to see the cat?"

I pointed it out to her and immediately her eagle eyes spotted the name painted on the back.

"Babe?"

"All ships are women. I named her after you."

"And when did you say you got this boat?"

"It was a little over three years ago."

I knew her mind was doing the math. I opened the Miami office shortly after I met her. I was down here for five months at the time and she had made such an impression on me that I needed to keep her close. Even if it wasn't really her.

We walked down the gangplank to the boat and I helped her on. I had checked to see if lunch arrived and was undoing the ties when José came down to say hello. I hadn't seen him in a long time. I pulled the boat back in, tied it up and jumped off to give him a hug.

"Babe, this is José, He owns this marina. He's like…what are you?"

"Second cousin."

"He's my second cousin. José, this is Stephanie."

"Nice to meet you," she said her hand over her eyes, blocking the sun so she could see him better.

I noticed his eyes go right to the rings on that hand. Thankfully we had told my grandmother about the distraction or my whole family would be calling, pissed as hell that they didn't know, in about ten minutes.

"Abuela knows. It's not what you think," I managed to get in during our second hug. With that, I promised to stop by his office later.

I jumped back on the boat and José helped me untie the moorings. I hoisted the sail and the wind gently pushed us out of the marina.

The secluded beach I mentioned to Steph was about a half-an-hour away, so I tacked through the wind and steered us towards it. It was an easy sail once we got out of the marina so I was able to sit with Steph until the cove came into view and I had to de-power the mainsail and use the engines to take us in*.

"Nice job Ranger," she said as the wind died down enough for us to hear each other.

"Thanks Babe, we'll go further tomorrow with Julie, but I just wanted to give you a feel for the boat."

"I like it. Is this the beach?"

"It is. The only other boats that will be able to get in here are kayaks and we should be able to see them approaching from quite a distance," I told her as I let down the anchor and helped her climb down into the water that was between the cat and the beach.

After I saw that she was ok making it to shore, I gave her the bag I was carrying and I went back onboard for our lunch. I wasn't sure what the gourmet shop packed for us but the picnic basket was awfully heavy for just two people. Although I did tell them to 'surprise me' so it could be anything.

After I put the picnic basket in the shade I opened it to see just what weighed so much. There was a bottle of champagne chilling on ice in the center. Ok, now I knew. I left everything else intact, but took out the champagne and plastic flutes and brought them over to where Stephanie was sitting on the blanket she had just put down.

I sat next to her and twisted off the wire cage before carefully opening the bottle. I poured a little into each flute and handed one to Steph.

"To us Babe," I said toasting her.

She toasted me back and we each took a sip. Unfortunately champagne wasn't what I wanted right now, so after another sip I put my glass to the side and pulled Stephanie into my arms.

"I'd rather be intoxicated by you," I said pulling at the bow on the back of her bikini top. I took it off of her but kept her close so our bare chests touched. I leaned down and kissed her.

"Sand is unpleasant and there are too many contaminants in the water," I said removing her bikini bottom. "Let me fuck you on the blanket or back on the catamaran."

"I need you _now_ Ranger," she answered breathless.

"Carlos," I said removing my board shorts, the decision made for me.

"Carlos," she replied as I angled myself over her and pushed in gradually yet unwavering.

I kissed her again, pulling out as slowly as humanly possible, then making my way down her body with my mouth, kissing licking and sucking anything and everything that came in my path. She was perfect as far as I was concerned. I loved her ass and her breasts were soft yet firm, there was nothing better in my world.

The sand beneath the blanket moved with us as I entered her again and she moaned to the unexpected dip in plateau.

"Oh my God Ranger."

"Carlos."

"God…Carlos."

"Move in with me," I asked in a not too subtle way the next time the sand shifted.

"I did," she said as I pumped into her again making her arch in ecstasy.

"In Trenton, Babe," I said in time to my thrusts.

"Why?"

"I love you. I want us to be together."

"I love you too. But isn't this too soon?"

"Marry me then."

"Carlos? What are you saying?"

"If you won't move in with me…I'm proposing."

I pumped into her hard this time, knowing I'd been hitting her g-spot on every thrust. She had to release soon.

"Oh God Carlos," she said coming for me. "Yes."

"Yes this feels good, or yes you'll marry me?" I asked pumping into her again.

"Both. But…"

"No buts Babe." Since I got the answer I was hoping for, I thrust into her one more time and let myself explode deep inside her. As I did, I felt the condom break. Shit, I hoped she was consistent with her pill usage.

*As I'm a kayaker not a sailor, I wasn't sure if I used the correct terminology here—any help would be appreciated.


	25. Chapter 25

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 25

_**Ranger's POV**_

I wasn't one hundred percent sure I'd heard her right, so after our breathing returned to normal, I took Stephanie's left hand in mine. I removed the wedding band, but left the diamond in place.

"Do you like this ring, or should we get you something different?"

She didn't answer me right away and for a minute I thought she might be regretting her decision.

"Babe?"

"I don't know how to put this Ranger. I love you and I cherish everything you give me, but aside from the luck I felt these rings gave me with _you_, they do remind me of you and Joe throwing punches at each other."

"We can return them and get you whatever you want. They were only supposed to be a prop anyway; even though I guess I saw them a little differently."

"Talk to me Ranger…"

"Carlos."

"I'm sorry. Carlos. What is it that you're feeling?"

"You still have the original set, don't you Babe?"

"Oh course I do. They're in my apartment. I tried to give them back a few times, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I thought you would think I was ending things with you."

"You went back to the cop after Hawaii, what was I supposed to think anyway? I never asked for them back, even though they're worth quite a bit of money, because I picked them out with you in mind."

"_You_ picked them out?"

"I did. But obviously they're a stock item…I was able to get another identical set…and since there is nothing stock about you, let's get you something you like. There's a Tiffany's on Collins Avenue, we can go over there later."

"Are you sure about this Carlos?"

"I'm as sure as I'll ever be. Tell me about the cop."

"What do you want to know? It's over for good if that's what you were asking."

"I assumed so. Santos told me it was ugly, but I never heard anything either way, from you."

"I didn't think I needed to fill anyone in on the details. I caught him with Terry; isn't that enough?"

"I'm sorry Babe, that must have hurt."

"Not as much as if I would have caught you with Jeanne Ellen."

"What does Jeanne Ellen have to do with this?" I was turning the diamond ring on her left finger as I asked. Jeanne Ellen never meant anything to me and I was hoping my lack of enthusiasm would let her know that.

"I thought…I heard you were an item."

"An item, Babe?"

"I'm sorry, I forget you don't know all the Burg expressions."

"I know what that means. Me and Jeanne Ellen?"

"You know, you are both bad-ass bounty hunters…"

"Babe. If you're asking me if I've ever fucked her, well then I have to answer honestly that I have…wait Babe," I said, trying to clarify as she moved away from me, "don't take that the wrong way, it meant nothing."

"It meant _nothing_? How can something as intimate as sex mean nothing?"

"Don't look at it as intimate, look at it as a need. It was just a release for both of us. That's all. What about the cop? I'm not even going to pretend you didn't have a sexual relationship with him…he told me on more than one occasion…"

"He did?"

"Any time he could, he was in my face about it. 'I'm dicking Stephanie and you aren't'…"

"He said that?"

I just nodded. Those may not have always been his exact words, mostly they were cruder, but that was the sentiment.

Stephanie got quiet, so I changed the subject.

"Babe, while we're talking about sex, I need to ask you something. You're still on the pill aren't you?"

"Um, yes…why?"

"And you've been taking it religiously?"

"Every day."

"Gracias a Dios,"

"Carlos, what did you just say?"

"I said 'thank God' because the condom we were just using broke."

"How is that possible?"

"I guess I got a little carried away, but as long as we had backup we should be ok."

"No, I swear, I've been good about taking them…um wait…"

"Babe?"

"Well it's not like I didn't take it, but the day of our flight to Florida I was so flustered because I couldn't get a cab to the airport, that I didn't remember to take it until that evening…but I did take it."

Technically that should be ok, but this was Stephanie we were talking about.

"Shall we head back to the marina? Tiffany's isn't that far from it and I was hoping we could pick out a ring and maybe even get it before we have to go back to Trenton."

"You are serious, aren't you?"

"I couldn't be any more serious. I love you Babe," I said again, looking into her eyes and dipping my head to kiss her lips.

"Oh God Carlos, keep that up and we won't be going anywhere."

"Yes we will, I see some kayakers approaching."

_**Ernesto's POV**_

I had gotten a call from the Miami PD a couple of days after Junior, Hector, Slick and Slick's friend Michelle captured Santana and freed the McCall kid he had in a cage in his backyard. They asked for our help with the case again.

A female police psychologist from North Miami was brought in to talk to Darcy and the kid broke down as soon as she started talking. Seems Santana had a friend named Moe. Stocky man with a black beard who didn't smell too good. Santana would leave him alone with the kid for days at a time and the man would rape and sodomize her repeatedly. If she protested in any way, he would beat her. She remembered bleeding vaginally, rectally and from her nose and mouth on more than a few occasions. She also said he punched her so hard she was sure he did internal damage and broke a few ribs.

The psychologist wanted to have Darcy admitted to a private hospital for some x-rays and MRIs and also wanted to bring her parents down to Florida to be with her. The kid refused to see her parents and the only way she would go to the hospital was if that woman who held her, stroked her hair and told her everything would be ok, came with her.

It seemed that she was talking about Slick's friend.

Hector had been hanging around the office after the debriefing, but I knew that Junior and Slick took their much-deserved time-off. Unfortunately I was going to have to call them back in. And I was about to when my phone rang…Miami PD _again_. Diego Santana was found dead in his cell; he had ripped and tied his socks together and used them to hang himself. So now, getting a hold of this _Moe_ wouldn't be as simple as we'd thought, and neither would this case.

I was able to find Hector easily enough and I convinced him to call Junior, who he said was on his way to Disney World. Hector called him from my office and I was thankful that he agreed to turn around and come back. He told Hector that Slick and Michelle were spending the weekend together and he highly doubted that Slick would be willing to come back to work for any reason.

Hector didn't know that the kid had been asking for Michelle.

I thanked Hector for his time. I knew he'd been called back to Trenton or I would have recruited him too, then I sat down to figure out what I was going to do about Slick and Michelle.

I gave myself a couple of hours and when I couldn't think of a nicer way to approach this, I called Slick's cell.

_**Slick's POV**_

I was thinking about my call from Junior, but I was also trying to be attentive to Michelle. No one has ever made me feel the way she does.

"Baby, come here," I called to her as she unpacked clothes to put into the dresser she had just claimed.

"Are you being _slick_ again since you got that call from work?"

"No, but I want to share something with you."

She came over and I pulled her onto my lap. I guess she was partially eager to hear what I had to say but by the way she was settling into me was she partially into making me crazy too. She knew what she was doing to me.

"Baby, I love you, but not now, I want to tell you something first."

"Shaun?"

"I told you that was Junior on the phone, right? Well it wasn't about work. He had just found out that his…I don't know even what to call her…his _sometimes_ woman is pregnant and he was asking for advice."

"Pregnant like they were trying, or pregnant like 'oops'?"

"They weren't trying; they are not a couple like that. He said she was on the pill but she got pregnant anyway. I'm a little worried about him. He's one of our best guys and if he decides to leave and go off on the daddy track, it will be a huge loss for us."

"Shaun you can't control people's lives. If that's what he thinks is best for him, you have to respect that."

I didn't have a chance to _really_ think about what she was saying, because my phone was buzzing in my pocket. I had sent it to voicemail and was about to turn it off entirely, when it buzzed again.

"Baby, I need to take this," I said to Michelle as I looked at the ID readout on top. "It's Ernesto." And what use was turning it off if Rangeman could turn it back on?

"Moore, you have a minute?" he said when I answered. I hoped he wasn't calling me back to work and I was going to protest that I never,_ ever_ ask for my time, when he asked about Michelle.

"And is Lore there with you?"

I told him she was and he asked me where I was. When he ascertained it was ok to speak freely, he asked me to put my phone on speaker.

"I'm sorry to put a damper on your weekend, but we got a call from South Miami earlier. Darcy McCall had a freak out and she's asking for Michelle."

"What can I do?" Michelle asked, no beat between the request.

"She'd like you to be with her for a full set of x-rays and MRIs. Turns out she was badly abused."

"Shit." That came from Michelle who I hadn't heard curse before.

"Are you ok with that? Do you want Slick with you?"

"No I'm ok. I had been hoping she wasn't raped."

"Rape is a simplistic term for what was done to her. Unfortunately the kid was abused in any and every way. She said she bled heavily from her nose and mouth."

I was thinking head injury.

"That bastard," Michelle said, surprising me again. And when I looked at her she was crying.

I maneuvered myself behind her and put my arms around her.

"Baby, it's ok," I whispered. "I'll go with you."

"I don't want to scare her Shaun. If she was asking for just me, I can do this."

"I love you," I whispered. And I did.

That's when it dawned on me. _Those_ _bastards_. Rangeman ran a search on Michelle. If they hadn't, she wouldn't have passed their criteria and she wouldn't have been asked to help out. I was going to let my temper fly when I realized it would do no good. And Michelle seemed to be ok with what was going on. I was the one who needed to get myself under control.

_**Lester's POV**_

I patiently sat outside. Sunny said Merry would be right out. Unfortunately I am not a patient person so after five minutes I'd had it.

"Merry?" I knocked on the door to their break room.

"Santos, stay where you are," I heard through the door. "I can't decide what to wear and no, I don't need your help." "Fuck," she yelled loudly right after her declaration.

"Merry?"

"Do_** not**_ touch that knob," she yelled, although my fingers already had a grip on it.

"Is everything ok?"

"A button just came off, but yes everything is ok."

"Want me to sew if back on for you? I have a needle and thread in my first aid kit."

"You're shitting me, right?"

"Nope."

"You can sew?"

"It's not one of my finer points, but yes, I can sew."

"Ok, then yes. I'm going to hand it out to you. No tricky stuff ok?"

"Promise. Give me two seconds to get the needle and thread. What color is it?"

"Purple."

I doubted I had purple thread in that mini-kit, blue would have to do.

"I'll be right back."

I brought the whole kit back in with me. In all honesty, I'd never used it, but I did know how to sew a button on.

"Ok, I'm back," I said rapping slightly on the door.

An arm came out with a purple dress draped over it, fingers deftly holding a button.

"Top back," she said slamming the door in my face before I had a chance to see anything else.

Sewing on a button wasn't any more difficult than stitching up a wound: many of which I had done in my army career. Bobby was the expert; but I wasn't bad at a little nip and tuck.

I knew with chicks that color was an issue, so even though I saw it was the back neck button that no one would see with her hair down, I made a decision to go for black thread instead of the blue; which was too blue. Three or four stitches later, I was done.

"Merry?" I called at the door. "Button's on. Open up."

"Not for you Santos. Leave it on the chair and once I hear the back door open and close I'll come out and get it."

What the fuck? Was she being a little too anal or what? I wasn't a serial rapist. So then I did what any man in my position would do; I went outside.

I was about to knock on the door before letting myself back in when it opened from the inside. There was Merry standing in front of me wearing the purple jersey dress with four-inch black heels. She looked stunning. The jersey hugged her curves and the heels made her almost as tall as I was.

"You look beautiful," I said, using the word I usually reserved for Stephanie.

"Thank you, not too bad yourself," she said, giving me the once over.

"So dinner?" I said, taking her arm and maneuvering her over to my Mustang.

"Santos, is this your car?" she said breaking away from me and going over to my midnight-blue convertible.

"Yeah. 1968 ½ 428cid, 335 horsepower."

"Nice."

"Thank you. I had it fully restored."

"Maybe you'll let me drive it sometime?" she asked practically drooling over my car.

"You drive stick?"

"I grew up in rural Vermont. I drove a tractor."

Good to know.

"Well then you're used to a hard clutch. This one has a lot of kickback. I wouldn't suggest driving it in those shoes though."

Next thing I knew she had her shoes off and was handing them to me. She was definitely a force to be dealt with.


	26. Chapter 26

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 26

_**Ranger's POV**_

After we left our secluded beach, which was no longer secluded once the kayakers arrived, I ferried us back to the marina. José met us at the slip and promised to secure the boat for the night. I told him we'd be taking it out again in the morning and he was excited at the prospect of seeing Julie. Obviously Rachel and Ron kept her from my family.

The thought saddened me. I was hoping that by close proximity alone, Rachel would let my daughter see her great-grandmother and my family.

"Babe, would you mind having lunch with my grandmother tomorrow?" I asked as we got into the Cayenne. "We can sail over to her with Julie. I'm angry that Rachel is keeping them apart and I feel a need to change that."

"I don't mind at all. I really like your grandmother, but are we going to be truthful about the change in our relationship? And what are we going to tell Julie?"

"The truth; that we're going to get married. And we're heading over to Tiffany's, so with any luck we'll walk out with a ring for you."

I reached for her hand as I drove. I felt a need to keep her close and if there was a way to drive and kiss her at the same time, I would have.

I didn't want to say anything, but I had called ahead and they had some 2 and 3 carat rings in size 6 at the store. Perhaps one would strike a chord with her.

I parked in front and we walked over hand-in-hand.

Lucinda met us at the door. She was the woman I spoke with while Steph was in the bathroom at the marina.

"Carlos and Stephanie?" she asked.

Stephanie gave me a funny look. "I called ahead Babe," I said then acknowledged that we were who Lucinda thought we were.

"As you know, our rings are custom set, but we do happen to have a few on premises, that have been pre-set with larger stones. That's what you asked to see, isn't it Mr. Manoso?"

"I want this to be Stephanie's decision, but yes, I was hoping to be able to pick up a ring today. I'd like to present my fiancé to my family tomorrow."

"Let me show you what I have. Our Coral Gables store also has a few rings in their possession, so if you don't see anything you like I can send you over to them. It's only about 20-minutes away."

I didn't want to make two trips.

"Is it possible to have the rings they have brought here so we don't have to make another stop?" I asked. "It seems to me if you called now, they'd arrive while we're still looking."

"Of course Mr. Manoso, I don't know why I didn't think of that, I'll call right away."

She went over to one of the viewing desks and placed a call before going into the back room to bring out a few rings for us to look at.

Stephanie was quiet as the tray was placed in front of her. She took off the Roebling ring and gave it to me.

She first tried on a 2.5 carat Lucinda ring. It was a classic-contemorary platinum band with fluid lines surrounding a single stone. It was pretty but I could see Steph wasn't moved by it.

"Carlos, look at this one," she said timidly, reaching for a large cushion-cut stone surrounded by other small diamonds on a platinum band. It was a beautiful ring.

"That is our Legacy ring," Lucinda said in response to Steph's enthusiasm. "And it's unusual that we have this in the store. It's a little over 3 carats and it's a VVS1. A stone of exceptional clarity."

"This is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. Can I try it on?"

"That's why we're here Babe."

She tentatively put it on her finger. It looked stunning.

"Carlos?"

"You like it Babe?"

She shook her head yes while staring directly at the ring.

"We owe it to _you _to look at the others. We can come back to this if nothing else makes you happier."

While she was trying on the remaining ring, the courier from the Coral Gables store arrived.

He had a smaller carat Embrace style and a Round Brilliant of indefinite caratage, although it looked to be to be upwards of 3.5. I thought it was a beautiful ring with the cut of its center stone and bead-set border but Stephanie's eyes kept darting back to the one that originally caught her eye.

She put it on her hand again, and I had to admit she was right. It was the most beautiful of the five.

"Carlos?"

I took her hand in mine—with the ring on it—and I brought it to my lips.

"Marry me Babe," I asked her again.

"God. I love you more than anything and I've already committed myself to you—now I need to commit myself to a ring; I think this is the one."

I didn't care that we had an audience, I leaned over and brought my lips to Stephanie's, and in a not too chaste way my tongue followed.

"Mmm Carlos," she was able to get out. "God."

"Marry me tomorrow. God and Julie can be our witnesses."

I turned towards Lucinda. "Do you have matching wedding bands? For the both of us?"

"There's a simple diamond band that goes with Stephanie's ring or you both have the option of a simple platinum milgrain to match the edging in the Legacy."

"Show us."

"Carlos?"

"Let's do this Babe."

"What about Tank? Won't he be hurt that he's not your best man?"

"If I call him now he can be here for the ceremony. Do you want either Mary Lou or Lula?"

"They'll both have _excuses. _No I'm good with Tank, Julie and your grandmother."

"You sure? Val?"

"Nope. I'm good."

"We can have a justice of the peace meet us at a restaurant by my abuela's then. Are you sure you're ok with this?"

"Good to go Batman."

"Your mom?"

"Doesn't need to know. Trust me."

Lucinda went off to get the wedding bands while I called Tank and a justice of the peace who was a friend of the family. I had prepared the paperwork years ago. I wasn't sure if I'd be needing them for real or as part of an elaborate distraction but they were safely in a safe deposit box my lawyer had access too. All we needed were blood tests, which I knew I could accelerate.

"How fast can you get down here?" I said when Tank answered his phone.

"What's up? Does this have to do with the McCall case?"

"No. We need you to be our witness; Steph and I are getting married…tomorrow."

"Well congratulations. This is sudden, everything ok?" he paused. "If I fly corporate I can make it down there in a few hours. Is there an open apartment for me or should I make a hotel reservation?"

"Call Lynn. And thanks Bro. We're both happy you can be with us."

"So, you did this on your own? No added incentive, if you know what I mean?"

"No this is not another Rachel. Stephanie and I love each other. I had my head up my ass for a number of years, but thanks to something a certain 'big man' said to me not too long ago, I pulled it out in time."

"Good to know. You want to keep this quiet?"

"For now. Maybe we'll have a party when we get back to Trenton. Listen Tank, I have the paperwork we'll need already filled out. Richard Bloomer has access. Can you call him and tell him what I'm planning? He'll be able to retrieve the papers and give them to you. He'll know what else to do too. And thanks again Tank. I'll see you in a few hours. We can have dinner together."

"I should be able to get there by seven. Make a reservation for eight."

"I hope that's for eight o'clock and that you're not bringing five other people?"

"Smart ass. See you later."

Next I called the department of health and thanks to our Rangeman contacts, was told to come right over. We were still at Tiffany's, so I made an appointment for three o'clock. I then called the lab to make sure they'd be able to process the blood work same day. They were.

Lucinda came back out just as I finished my calls.

She had Steph's ring and three other bands on a black velvet tray. All the other rings had been put away and I must say Steph's diamond was absolutely beautiful standing by itself.

I saw Steph's eye go to the diamond band that matched, so we asked to try that on first. The two were striking together.

I picked up the larger of the milgrain bands and tried it on. It was a perfect fit. Looked like we'd be leaving here with rings after all.

I handed over my black Amex card and Lucinda took the rings to box them.

"No need to put Steph's diamond in a box. I'd like to see it on her finger," I said as she started to walk away.

She turned back towards us and handed the Legacy diamond to me. I took Steph's left hand and put the ring on it. There was no missing the symbolism and Steph looked like she might pass out or burst into tears.

"Tomorrow at this time, hopefully you'll be my wife," I whispered.

"Hopefully?"

"You can still back out Babe."

"Not on your life."

_**Junior's POV**_

I made reservations at the Delano. It was right on the beach and on a lark I though it seemed like a fun spot. Yes, it was expensive, but I owed Bonnie that much.

I was waiting at the baggage claim when I saw her come down the escalator with the rest of her flight. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her, which was a very unfamiliar thing for us to do. But she hugged me back, then looked up and kissed my lips.

"Bon, I'm so glad you came down," I said and kissing her in turn.

"Long flight, we had a stop-over in Atlanta. Did you get a room?"

"Mmmm. Think you'll like it. We're right on the beach."

She smiled then pointed to the carousel that started to move.

"I'm a black bag with a plaid pink bow," she said inching us towards the moving platform.

I spotted it immediately. I pointed it out to Bonnie and when she nodded, retrieved it from its infinity circle.

"All you have?" I asked pulling the bag from its moving stage.

"Well aside from this," she said, showing me the bag on her shoulder.

That was when I caught sight of a familiar figure walking in the shadows.

"Bonnie, was Tank on your flight?" I asked.

"I didn't see him. Why…"

I didn't mean to cut her off, but I didn't want to lose sight of Tank either. I put her bag down and told her to stay put while I sprinted over.

"Tank?" I called to the big man trepidatiously. I didn't want to scare him and have him pull his gun on me. If he was wearing one, that is.

He turned and caught sight of me. "Junior? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I was picking up Bonnie."

"I just came in on NetJets. I was cutting through the airport to pick up a rental. I'm staying at the…uh…Delano," he said pulling a folded sheet of paper from his breast pocket.

"So are we. And now that I think of it, I know why the name sounded so familiar when I booked the room; I think Slick and Michelle are staying there too."

"Where's Bonnie?" he asked, suddenly looking around.

"At the baggage claim. Her flight just got in."

He scanned the area and when he saw her, he walked quickly towards her. I followed; noticing he was carrying a small duffle bag.

Just as he was appraching, Bonnie spotted him and they ran to each other…Bonnie dragging her big bag behind her. He picked her up and spun her around, thankfully she freed herself from her suitcase or it would have made for a very strange visual. Not that Tank would have even noticed the additional weight.

"Baby," he said, calling her something I didn't even call her. "I'm so happy to see you. Are you ok?"

"Good as can be. Junior and I are going to figure out what to do about our unexpected source of tension," she said wrapping her hands around her non-existent belly, "and by Sunday, I hope to be feeling better."

Tank sent me a look that made me feel like a heel all over again. Shit.

_**Slick's POV**_

Michelle and I drove to the South Miami station together. I was going to let her go in alone, but I wanted to be there in case she needed me. I had volunteered to work the weekend with Michelle: she, to be there for Darcy; and me, to help find this "Moe" guy.

"It's ok Shaun, I can do this by myself," she said as I slowed the car to a stop in front of the precinct.

I knew she could, but I was hoping she'd need me for something. A guy always feels better when he's needed. But don't let one that out.

"Holy shit," I said reading the email that just buzzed my phone, "Ranger and Sheph are going to be involved as well as some of the core team from New Jersey. Baby, you going to be ok with this?"

"Steph? The lady we met at the restaurant?"

"Yeah that's right…you met her.

"She seems cool, no prob," she answered, slightly distracted.

"Michelle," I said softer, "are you ok?"

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about Darcy. I can't even imagine all she's been through."

"Your job is just to be with her for her X-rays and MRIs, the mental stuff is the psychologist's problem."

"If it were only that simple to detach a head from a body."

She was right of course.

I took her hands in mine and leaned over the console to kiss her. She'd be just a couple of miles and a phone call away, but I was having separation anxieties already.

"I'll miss you Baby. Call me later and let me know how it's going. And let me know when you're ready to leave and I'll pick you up and bring you over to Rangeman. You can meet whoever they've shipped down."

"I'd really like to meet some more of your friends. They sound like a great bunch of guys. And good luck with your detective work," she added kissing me back. "Maybe I can help you with some of that later too."


	27. Chapter 27

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 27

_**Ranger's POV**_

Even though I took myself offline, Ernesto used the 766 code Hector had set up to turn my phone back on. It was his way of saying that this was an emergency.

"Speak," I barked into the phone to show my annoyance.

"I've called Junior, Slick and his girlfriend back to work. The McCall kid's been asking for Michelle and since we did a full background check on her and she got the ok, I sanctioned it. This 'Moe' guy is going to be a problem. I would love it if you could lend us Stephanie for an afternoon. Her gut instincts are better than Silvio's and we need a miracle right now."

"We have an afternoon affair we can't get out of tomorrow but we can begin to run a search tonight. Babe, this is Ernesto," I said changing my center of attention from him to Steph. "He's asking for our help with the McCall case?"

"Can we show up at the office _after_?" she asked quietly so Ernesto couldn't hear.

I took her hand in mine and kissed it. "Are you sure you want to buy into this Babe?" I whispered.

She shook her head yes. I knew she did, but I wanted to hear it from her.

"Ok, Steph's on board too," I said back into the phone. "Send us whatever information you can and we'll get started on a search now. We can be back at Rangeman around 6 tomorrow evening. Do we need to put some men on from Trenton? Brown and Santos maybe? Tank is already on his way down for something else, but I'm sure I could convince him to join us too."

"Yeah, I _saw_ that Lynn booked him at the Delano. Do you want to call Brown and Santos or should I?"

"I can call them," I said. "If we can get a NetJets flight out of Trenton-Mercer they can be down here in a couple of hours. It's only seven now, there's still time to book a flight. Benny can take care of that."

I hated that I was diverting my attention away from Stephanie. After all, I promised we spend the weekend alone together…doing whatever her devious mind could come up with. But this was important. Not often does Governor Christie ask favors of us; and God know how many times he's come to our rescue.

I hung up with Ernesto and made a quick call to Bobby.

"Feel like a few days in Paradise?" I said when he answered.

"Miami?"

"Um hmm,"

"What's up?"

"We're trying to get a bead on this 'Moe' guy the McCall kid keeps mentioning. Ernesto's low on men. He just recruited Slick, Junior, myself and Steph. Trying to get you, Santos and Tank on board too. Interested?"

"You'll put me up in a nice hotel?"

"Tank's at the Delano. That nice enough for you?"

"Want me to talk to Santos or would you rather make some _demands_ on him?"

"I'll call him."

"I think he's out on a date right now."

"Date?"

"Yeah. One of Cal's friends, but it's a _real_ date…I'm not shitting you."

"Maybe he's tamable after all. See if you can get on a NetJets flight out of Trenton tonight."

"I doubt he'll be willing to cut his evening short, but you can ask him. Why don't we just strive for a 6:30 am flight tomorrow morning? Nothing much is going to happen between now and then."

I knew he was covering for Santos, but I'd be agreeable if he took care of the legwork.

"Well then how about you set up the flight while I call our playboy friend."

"You have a deal."

I hung up with Brown and called Santos.

"Paradise?" I asked when he answered the emergency 766 turn-on number.

"Not yet. What's up? I'm heading out to dinner."

"You're such an asshole. My 'paradise' didn't refer to your dick in a warm place. I'd like you and Brown to come down to Miami to be part of the McCall project. Governor Christie wants us to find this 'Moe' guy and you two are the best of the bunch."

"Can't leave tonight. What did Bobby say?"

"He said 6:30 am out of Trenton. He was going to book it."

"Ok, I can do that. Give me some background. Merry, I have to take this call; here's the keys, you can take it for a drive if you like," he said diverting his attention from me to someone near him."

"Merry?"

"Meredith Crislis."

"The stripper?"

"You know her?"

"I know _of_ her," I said before telling him the little we actually knew about this 'Moe' person we'd been asked to find.

"You ask Steph to help? She's good at pulling rabbits from hats?"

"I did. We're going to start running some searches tonight. We'll see you and Bobby some time tomorrow evening. Steph and I are spending the day with Julie and my grandmother."

"I hear Tank is down there," he stated almost as a question.

"I haven't seen him yet, but were having dinner with him at his hotel later."

"Yeah I heard. The Delano. You putting us up there too?"

"You ask an awful lot of questions."

"Need to know where I'm going to be hanging my hat."

"You're a pain in the ass Santos. Yeah the Delano. I'll get Lynn to book you and Brown a couple of rooms."

"Ok. I'm in then. I'll see you tomorrow sometime. I have to find Merry before she destroys my clutch. Say hi to Steph for me."

"Santos says hello," I said ending the call and looking at Steph. She was smiling from ear to ear.

"And you think women have strange phone conversations?"

"At least we get to the point. You want to start getting ready for dinner with Tank? I'm pretty sure there's a suitable dress in the closet. That FedEx box from Ella was huge. And was there anything in there that would be good for tomorrow?"

"We're going for a catamaran ride, then lunch. I don't want anything too fancy to get wet."

"It's our _wedding_ lunch Babe. We can store a dress in the car for you."

"What are you going to wear?"

"Armani."

"On the boat?"

"No I'll change in the car. Or at the restaurant."

"Come take a look with me Carlos. You're better at this than I am. My last wedding dress came with a train."

I followed her into the walk-in closet we were sharing and took a look around. I'd say her collection of clothes grew by 50% since the last time I looked at clothes with her. And that was only last week. But I knew Ella had good taste and loved to shop. It was my suggestion that she send down some more outfits.

I saw a pretty accordion-pleat, very pale green, almost-white, sleeveless tiered mini-dress and took it from the pole to look at it closer.

"What about this Rag & Bone dress Babe? It's got a nice presence to it."

"What a great dress. I knew if I took you into the closet you'd come up with something. And how about this for tonight?" she asked, taking the grey plaid dress she used for the distraction from its hanger.

I shook my head no. It reminded me too much of having her taken from me.

"Bad memories Babe. What about this?" I asked pulling out a Rory Beca double strap leopard-print silk dress. It was simple yet the silk made it classy.

"Can you help me get dressed every morning?" she grinned at me.

"I'd rather take your clothes _off_. And you do a good job of getting dressed by yourself."

I left her alone to dress and whatever else it was that took her so long. I assumed it was hair and makeup. I was starting to worry about us keeping Tank waiting when she emerged from the bedroom. She looked stunning. Her hair fell in soft curls to just below her shoulders and she didn't look overly made up at all.

"Beautiful Babe," I said to her taking her into my arms to kiss her.

"Not so bad yourself," she said eyeing me up and down.

We headed down to the Cayenne. Once I made sure Steph was buckled in to my satisfaction I fobbed us out of the garage and we headed over to the Bianca restaurant at the Delano.

Tank was already seated at a table in the back and he stood when he saw us enter. He hugged me, and then kissed Steph hello; I couldn't help but notice him admiring the ring on her finger.

"You don't do anything half-assed, do you?"

"And why should I? My beautiful woman should have the most beautiful ring that money can buy."

"And I'm sure she has. So you guys are really going to do this?"

"Tomorrow at two. Everything is all set. My uncle is going to drop off my grandmother at AltaMare at 1:30 and the Honorable Mercedes Mendez will arrive shortly thereafter. My grandmother knows her and will probably become suspicious immediately. Tank I'm hoping you can get there around 1:30 as well. Maybe you can keep Abuela from reading into this too much until the time is right. Steph, myself and Julie should arrive around 1:45."

"I'll be at the restaurant before 1:30. Your grandmother will be so happy to see me she won't think anything unusual when Mercedes shows up. She's friends' with your family, isn't she? I remember meeting her before." He paused before addressing Stephanie. "Bomber, you're awfully quiet, are you ok?"

"I'm good Tank," she said, "just a little overwhelmed. This is all happening so fast. But it's better this way. No Burg bullshit, if you know what I mean."

"Oh I'm sure there will be Burg bullshit. The rumors will start flying as soon as the word gets out."

"I know. Don't remind me."

_**Tank's POV**_

For all my joking around, I knew I was going to be on someone's shit list. Lester, Bobby and Hector at the _very_ least would have wanted me to break my confidence and tell them about the upcoming wedding. Fortunately my loyalty is to one man only. Carlos Manoso.

I was glad my talk with Ranger a few months back got him to open his eyes and see just what he had in front of him. A beautiful, smart, loving woman that only needed the slightest bit of encouragement to head right into his arms. Fortunately the cop blew it for himself and was out of the picture entirely. From what I'd heard, Bomber caught him cheating on her with Terry Gilman. I didn't ask for the details, but I was pretty sure the experience injured her already fragile self-confidence; the ex-husband we all call _The Dick_, was caught in a similar state of undress with one of the sleeziest women Trenton had to offer.

After we heard what happened with the cop, Lester, myself and Hector spent a lot of time building Steph back up. I wasn't sure if Ranger could get his head out of his ass in time, but honestly, that wasn't my problem; Steph needed us and we came to her rescue. Yeah, the guys were going to be pissed; especially Santos who I gathered grew _unnaturally_ attached to her.

"Bobby and Lester will be in town tomorrow," I mentioned matter of factly.

"Yeah, I know. I'm still good with just you, Julie and Carlos' grandmother. Do you think we can keep this quiet until we get back to Trenton?"

I was sure that depended on _who_ found out, not that _I _would say anything to anyone, mind you.

"No one will hear about it from me," I promised her.

We ordered dinner and spend the rest of the night indulging in small talk and the latest on the guys back in Trenton. Pretty soon Ranger and I _both_ caught Steph yawning.

"I think I need to take the princess home," Ranger said laughing at her as she yawned again. "We'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Hope you can keep Abuela from figuring it all out before the ceremony."

_**Ranger's POV**_

Steph seemed to be texting someone as we drove back to Rangeman.

"Anything I need to know about?" I asked her when her phone buzzed for at least the fifth time that she had another text.

"It's Lester. I was just asking him about his date."

"And?"

"I guess it went ok. He let her drive his car."

"I was talking to him earlier when he gave her the keys. Meredith Crislis. Do you know who she is?"

"Yeah I met her. She's one of the strippers at Cal's old club."

"She has a reputation for being a first-class bitch. Guys come down from New York to catch her act and take her abuse. Santos is going to have his hands full."

"Lester can take it. And I met her. I'm sure all that bitchy dominant shit is just an act. While Cal was waxing me he said she was from Vermont. It seems to me they can't have too many bitches in Vermont."

"There's bitches everywhere," I said when her phone dinged again.

"Are you sure you don't want to ask Santos to lunch tomorrow? You seem to have a lot to say to one another."

"He's going to be angry at me either way," she mumbled.

"Babe?"

"We got close after Joe." I didn't like the way that sounded, so I shot her a look. "No, not that kind of close. We were _never_ lovers or anything, just good friends. He knows you and I were going to try to work on our relationship and he'll be pissed that I haven't shared anything."

"Not that it's any of my business, but don't you think you should tell him?"

"I can't just say 'Well guess what Les? Ranger and I are getting married…uh, tomorrow,' now can I?"

"You can invite him to lunch and he'll learn about it the same way Julie and my grandmother will. If he's such a good friend he'll be happy that you included him."

"Ya think?"

"I do."

"Ok, I'll ask him."

She began texting again. You had to wonder about people who spent their evening throwing words around on a miniature keypad. Good thing I intended to remove it from Steph's hands the moment we set foot in the door. I had other plans for her hands.

"Les is suspicious, but he'll meet us at the restaurant," she said coming up for air.

"Good," I said as we pulled into the garage. At least she wouldn't be thinking about one of my men all night. I wanted her focused on me.

xxxXXXxxx

I packed the car while Steph got dressed. I had called José earlier and the boat was ready for us. We were picking up Julie at ten thirty. That was long enough for a sail around the bay before lunch. I gave up my original idea to sail to the restaurant. It was just too complicated on top of everything else we had planned for the day.

Julie was waiting for us at the front door when we pulled up to the house. I had ok'd the lunch with Rachel but was kind of surprised to see Julie dressed in her Sunday best.

"Are you sure you want to wear a dress on the boat? There's a good chance you'll get it wet. Why don't you put on a bathing suit and shorts? Bring your dress if you want; you can change at the restaurant. I think that's Steph's plan too," I said to Julie as Rachel approached the door.

As Julie ran off to change, Rachel explained the dress.

"She doesn't see your abuela very often and she wanted to make a good impression. I told her a dress wasn't practical, but she insisted. I'm glad you said something."

"My grandmother is a wise lady. Julie doesn't have to worry about making a good impression on her. She already has, but I appreciate her efforts. We'll have her back before dinner, our reservations are for 1:30," I told her so she wouldn't worry about the time.

Julie came bouncing back to the door, her dress on a hanger, this time with shorts over a bathing suit. I felt much better about her going on the cat dressed like that.

We said goodbye to Rachel and Julie took both of our hands as she skipped towards the car.

"Steph what is this on your finger?" she asked feeling the ring.

"Your dad and I got engaged," Steph answered. Good, I was glad she told her the truth.

"Yay," she yelled, inspecting the ring first before running back towards the house pulling Stephanie by her hand.

"Mom, Ranger and Steph are engaged. Take a look at this ring."

I wasn't sure what Rachel would do when she saw the 3-plus carat stone. Our wedding was little more than a cover-up and I never even bought her a ring.

"Pretty," she said looking at it closely. "Congratulations. I hope you'll be happy together."

It was a bit of a cold response, but I wasn't expecting much more than that. I knew she still harbored ill feelings towards me.

We said our goodbyes to Rachel and the three of us piled into the Cayenne. I put Julie's dress in the clothing bag I brought along for my suit and Steph's dress. There was something unsaid there about the three of us forming a permanent bond, but I didn't point that out to either of them.

José was waiting for us at the slip. He eyed Julie intently. Yes, she looked like me. Her skin was a much lighter shade of brown, but her features were mine. She was a beautiful girl.

"Tu eres tan bella, mia. _You are so beautiful, my dear_," he said to her in Spanish.

"Sí lo es, gracias. _Thank you. Yes, she is_," I answered; knowing Julie didn't speak nor understand a word.

"Julie, this is your second cousin José. He's Abuela's sister's grandson."

"Hey," she looked up, said in response and went back to reading her text messages. She was such an _American_ kid.

José helped us onto the boat and I took off under slight motor power to get out of the marina. Once we past the inlet I turned off the engine and let the sail loose. The wind hit the fabric immediately and after the first initial jolt we were sailing.

"Can I take the jib?" she asked, wanting to control the vessel.

"As long as you pay attention to the wind and put your phone in your pocket," I told her relinquishing control.

We sailed around the bay for a couple of hours. I was constantly looking at my watch and when I deemed it time to return I took over the controls and led us in.

"Ranger, I was just having fun," she said pouting.

"I guarantee you'll have more fun in the next hour," I told her.

We left José to tie up the boat. It was what he got paid to do. We piled into the Cayenne once again and headed to the restaurant. Steph was looking nervous and Julie picked up on it.

"Everything ok?"

"I'm just a little nervous about having lunch with your grandmother."

"Me too," Julie giggled, not reading anything more into it.

When we got to the restaurant, I caught sight of a black Explorer. I knew Tank had a rental so I assumed it was Lester's.

"I think Santos is here," I said casually.

"Lester?" Julie asked, her ears perking up. I forgot that she'd met him before.

"Yeah and don't let him give you any shit."

"Dad! Language."

"I'm sure you've heard worse," I said taking out the garment bag and removing my suit before handing the bag over to Stephanie.

"I'll change in the car, meet you inside?"

My phone rang just as I was about to step from the Cayenne and walk over to the restaurant. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Steph.

"Babe?"

"Do you know Julie's only thirteen?"

"Of course I know. She's my daughter."

"She can't be our witness, she's too young. But she wants to be my maid of honor."

"Where did this come from? Did you tell her?"

"She more or less guessed and I wasn't going to lie. Can we change this up a bit and do a processional from the bathroom to the table? Maybe we can grab a couple of flowers from the centerpiece by the front door?"

"We can do anything you want. I'm coming into the restaurant now. I'll meet you at the bathrooms. I'll text Tank and Mercedes and let them know about the change of plans. And if we're going to have a processional maybe the restaurant can give us Beethoven's _Ode to Joy _on the speaker system."

"Cool."

Why did I think this was going to be easy? Nothing ever was with Stephanie, but that was one of the things I loved about her. So instead of heading directly over to the restrooms, I asked the desk for the manager, telling him my story. David Gee came right out, smiling brightly.

"This is so exciting, no one has ever gotten married in our restaurant before. What can I do to help?"

"Can we borrow a few flowers from your floral arrangement? And you don't happen to have Beethoven's _Ode to Joy_ do you?"

"The flowers you can take. If you give me a few minutes, I can download _Ode to Joy_. I do have Coldplay's _Reign of Love _though. I've heard it used for a wedding before.

I thought that would work, especially since Tank was just walking towards the bathroom. Looked like we might be out of time.

"_Reign of Love_ will do. Is it ok if I take a couple of flowers?"

"Be my guest."

I walked towards the restrooms with a few flowers in my hands. I gave one to Julie and three to Stephanie. I hope she picked up on the symbolism…three flowers for three words. I love you.

Suddenly the Coldplay song came out of the speakers. Tank nodded to Julie and they walked out of the bathroom corridor together. Steph and I followed, hand-in-hand.

Once we reached the table where my grandmother, Lester and Mercedes were sitting I got the feeling they knew what was happening. My grandmother's face lit up like the fourth of July and Lester was grinning his stupid grin.

Mercedes stood as we got close and automatically so did Santos and my abuela. Everyone looked at each other and Mercedes spoke.

"When I got the call from Carlos yesterday that he and Stephanie wanted to get married in a very private ceremony with just Abuela Maria, Julie and Tank as witnesses, I had to smile. That was so like Carlos. Make a decision and follow through. We've known each other since he was fourteen and came to live with his grandparents and he's always been like that. I don't want to take too much of your time as lunch awaits us, so let's get started.

"And now will you please face each other and join hands," she said, addressing Steph and I. "You have vowed your love to each other. Are you ready to confirm that love in the responsibilities of marriage? If so answer, "We are."

"We are," was the reply from both of us.

"May I have your rings please?"

I handed Mercedes the rings Steph and I picked out yesterday.

"Your rings by their very shape are symbols of eternal unity. Without beginning or end. They are a symbol of the love that exists between you and show your devotion to one another. Let them always remind you of the commitments you make today.

"Carlos, repeat after me: 'Stephanie, with this ring I promise to grow with you to build our love, to speak openly and honestly to listen to you, and to love and cherish you for all the days ahead. From this day forward you won't walk alone. My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. With this ring I thee wed.'"

I repeated the vows and put the ring Mercedes handed to me onto Stephanie's finger.

"Stephanie, repeat after me," Mercedes began again. "Carlos, with this ring I promise to grow with you to build our love, to speak openly and honestly to listen to you, and to love and cherish you for all the days ahead. From this day forward you won't walk alone. My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. With this ring I thee wed."

She too repeated the words and put a ring on my finger. Then Mercedes continued with the short ceremony.

"The Apache wedding blessing: _Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years. May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth. _

"The best of luck to both of you. And now by the power vested in me by the state of Florida, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

I leaned down and gave Steph a kiss from my soul. She kissed me back with just as much passion. We didn't care that we had an audience. Tears streamed from my eyes. And when I looked up at Steph she was crying too.

I remember hearing the word "congratulations" from a number of different voices, but none of them clicked. Stephanie and I were now husband and wife.


	28. Chapter 28

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 28

_**Slick's POV**_

After I dropped Michelle off at the South Miami station I headed over to Rangeman to see what I could contribute. Junior was almost as good as Ranger when it came to finding the tiniest of clues, but I was _very_ well read. Together we usually were able to put a spin on anything that our researchers came up with.

I'd heard that Ranger and Steph had begun a search last night and I was anxious to see what Stephanie found. Her uncanny ability to enter the strangest of criteria amazed me. It was usually better when she explained her thinking in person, but I'd heard her and Ranger were spending time with his daughter and grandmother today and were unavailable. I'd just have to guess what she used for a search.

My phone buzzed as I entered the building. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Michelle. Her text made my heart beat just a little faster.

'Missing you. Waiting for Darcy to get her things together.' her text said.

'I 3 u,' followed. (FF won't let me use the symbol-supposed to be 'heart')

'I 3 u 2,' I texted back. 'Having a hard time being without u :('

'Sweet. Love u.'

Shit. I really _did_ love her.

'Same baby. Can't wait to see u,' I replied.

'I have plans for later.'

'Tell me.'

'I think it's illegal in Florida.'

'Baby?'

'Mmm.'

Shit. She was getting my dick into a state. And I was at work. Jesus, I could _only_ imagine what Michelle was thinking.

'Call me when ur done and I'll pick u up. I love u baby.'

'Mmm,' she texted again.

'Ur killing me.'

'Mmm. Darcy's here. Gotta go. Bye.'

I was smiling as I put my phone back into my pocket and walked over to the elevator. The doors opened and Bobby came out.

"That's some shit-eating grin Slick," he said in lieu of hello.

"Hey man, when did you get in? Are you here for the McCall case?"

"Les and I were on a 6:30 flight. Ranger called last night to ask for our help."

"Yeah. Junior and I have been recruited too. Listen, I want you and Santos to meet Michelle. Are you going to be around for a while?"

"Michelle? Is that the reason for the smile on your face? She the woman Junior mentioned?"

"Is he talking about me again?"

"Only good, man. I was on my way to get some coffee—we were just waiting for you to show up. Want anything before Ernesto takes us through the findings?"

"I'm good, but I'll come with you."

While we walked around the corner to the deli, I told Bobby a little bit about Michelle. I couldn't get her out of my mind and talking about her seemed to help.

"She was really good with that kid after we found her and it didn't matter to her that she was cut and bleeding, she was determined to pull the chicken wire away and free the girl," I babbled.

"I hope you cleaned up her wounds and made sure she got a tetanus shot," he said, the medic in him coming out.

"I did and she'd had a shot recently. She's from New Jersey," I added. I don't know why, maybe to make sense of the recent tetanus shot.

"You seem to really like her. You intend to continue this relationship back home?"

"I intend to never let her out of my sight."

"That's a pretty heavy commitment to someone you've just met."

"Yeah, it is. Isn't it?"

We placed our order for coffee: four black, no sugar. When they arrived, we each took two and carried them back to Rangeman.

After we settled in and the guys had a few sips of their coffee, Ernesto got started.

"Steph and Ranger ran a search last night with what we knew: Obviously a Florida man. Black beard. Goes by the name of Moe. Not enough of a criteria for a decent search and they got_ thousands_ of matches. Then Steph had the brilliant idea that maybe Moe was short for something. With that black beard that was continually mentioned by the kid, Steph thought it might not be Moe, spelled M-O-E but M-O, Mo. So she cross-referenced all the Mohammad's with a criminal record and the list is now down to a little under forty. We still can't say for certain that he's a Mo not a Moe, but from what I hear, Steph is right more often than not. And on that note, here are your marching orders. About ten names apiece. I'd feel better if you worked in pairs, but that's up to you. Steph and Ranger will be here around 6 tonight and can continue to run searches and hopefully narrow down that list even more; but I thought we should get started in the meantime."

"I got a text from Steph last night," Lester said, breaking the tension a little, "she invited me to lunch with her, Tank, Ranger and Ranger's daughter and grandmother. I have my suspicions concerning why, but whatever it is I'll be out of commission for a few hours this afternoon."

"What are you thinking?" Bobby asked him.

"Honestly?"

Bobby nodded and I found myself nodding too. So was Junior.

"I think they have some big announcement to make. We know they came down here to work on their relationship more than to apprehend criminals, so my guess is they've worked it out. I think she's going to be moving into Rangeman."

"Thank God," Junior said.

"What do you mean by that?" I found myself asking.

"I thought for a minute you were going to say that they found themselves in a similar situation to me and Bonnie. Listen, I wasn't going to share this, but Bonnie's pregnant. She flew down last night so we could talk about options. If it's at all possible, can I do the computer leg-work end of this first so Bonnie and I can talk?"

I was glad Junior manned up. I didn't want to be covering for him. The way I saw it, Bobby and I could team up today since Santos and Junior both had prior commitments. They could work together later. And someone really did need to run background searches on the names that Steph came up with. Might as well be Junior.

I was mentally sending out the idea when Ernesto spoke.

"Looks like we need to switch some teams around. Bobby, you and Slick can get started with door-to-doors on the top ten names. Junior, take the next fifteen and run background checks. Santos and I can work together on the remaining ones until he has to leave and I'll see you back here at six."

"I'll be at my hotel if you need me," Junior said, taking one of the printouts from Ernesto and getting up. "Thanks for working with me on this."

"Junior, wait," I said getting up and following him out of the conference room. "You going to be ok?" I asked once we got out of earshot. We'd worked together for so long we were like brothers.

"Yeah. Bonnie and I didn't talk last night, but we spoke non-verbally, if you know what I mean. I should be able to live with whatever we both decide. And I do care for her; probably more than I let on."

"I would still consider that the last option man. No one likes to feel coerced into anything."

"I know. I'm good. I'll enter these names and addresses into the computer, then probably take that last batch too and I'll see you back here at six. Things ok with you?"

"Couldn't be better, man," I said thinking about last night with Michelle and smiling.

"You have a shit-eating grin on your face," Junior said, looking at me. "I can't believe life is _that_ good?"

"That's what Bobby said too. And yes it is."

"She good?"

"I'd marry her tomorrow."

"You…what?"

"Yeah man, I would. We're good together and I love her."

"You_ love_ her?"

"Yes. And she loves me. I have never felt like this before. I'm _happy_."

"That's your sex hormones talking. _And_ you're thinking with your dick."

"Wish that were the case. No I couldn't be more serious."

"I've thought about marrying Bonnie. And I'll bring it up after we talk about this pregnancy thing."

"Why? If you guys decide on abortion, you won't _have_ to marry her?"

"I know, but we've been together for almost five years and I've been playing the avoidance game for the last three. Thinking about options just helped to bring my feelings to the surface and made me see how good we really are together."

"Junior, I've never even seen you put an arm around her. I think you have a lot of making up time to do before you ask her to marry you. She'll see right through that bullshit."

"That's just _me_. I'm not a touchy feely kind of guy, but I do have emotions."

"I think you need to think this through some more. You seem a little all over the place to me."

"Oh, as if you aren't?"

_**Lester's POV**_

Am I allowed to be shocked? According to _some_ people, there is nothing in this world capable of fazing me one way or the other. But I must say that seeing Julie walk out of the bathroom corridor carrying a flower, followed by Tank then Ranger and Steph, shocked the shit out of me.

I knew they were working on their relationship and I suspected that during lunch they were going to let us know their plan to pursue a couple thing, but I never, _never_ in a million years expected them to take this so far, so soon. No wonder Tank was uncharacteristically quiet when I arrived. I thought he was just being cautious in front of Ranger's grandmother, but now I see it was more than that. He had a secret.

Once Steph and Ranger broke apart after Mercedes gave them permission to kiss, I got up and hugged first Ranger and then Steph. I guess I hugged Steph a little too long for Ranger's taste.

"Get your hands off my wife Santos," he said giving me his black-eyed look. It's the look that was usually followed by some very well executed martial arts moves. Since I didn't feel like wearing ice packs for the next few days I quickly moved away from Steph and raised my arms in mock surrender.

"Down boy," I said. "I thought congratulations were in order. It's not every day that two of my best friends tie the knot."

"You can say your congratulations from the other side of the table Santos, my wife is off limits to you."

"Carlos," Stephanie said, looking over to her new husband, "Les didn't mean anything wrong by that. He's happy for us."

"He can be happy without having his hands on your ass."

"Dad. Vo-cab-u-lar-y," Julie said annunciating every syllable.

"Carlos, Julie, Lester…enough," Ranger's grandmother said probably thinking about the consequences of letting this continue.

"Great-gram-ma," Julie interrupted, "dad and Lester are just playing; everyone is happy for them, aren't we?" she asked looking over at Tank and myself for clarification.

"Of course we are; and boys will be boys," Tank said, rolling his eyes towards Ranger.

Thankfully our waiter came by before our need for a referee. We placed our lunch orders and I saw Ranger slip him his black Amex card. I guessed our boss was paying for lunch.

"So I heard you came up with about forty worthwhile names last night," I said to try to get back on Ranger's good side.

"Stephanie did. I had over a thousand. She's amazing," he said, pulling her to him and kissing the top of her head."

"I wish I could take credit for it," she mumbled, "but any one of you would have asked yourself the same question I asked me, 'is Moe his real name?' and then you'd come up with what I did. And I may still be wrong."

I felt like I needed to tell the story. "Junior was going to spend most of the day running background checks on your names. Bobby and Slick were going to start with a little door-to-door on the top hits and when I get back Ernesto and I will see where they've gotten and either run backgrounds or take the end of the list and hit the streets. If the 'Mo' angle is viable we should have something by tomorrow."

"Good," Ranger said, "we could use another feather in our cap. Governor Christie's office has been coming down hard on us to deliver on this one. I have a feeling there is probably more to this case than meets the eye for our communication to come directly from the governor. But I doubt we'll get to the bottom of it right now."

"I don't understand that one," Steph broke in. "If we are helping to solve his case why can't he give us the background information we need?"

"Babe, don't ask, don't tell."

"I thought that was for gays in the military?"

"You have a lot to learn," Tank mumbled to Steph under his breath.

"Caught that," she said, "If_ you_ can't explain, I'll force Carlos to."

"You can't force me to do anything I don't want to, but Tank, take that one for the table."

"Politics is like being in a big family with a lot of skeletons in the closet," he told her. "Maybe Uncle Mario was fooling around with the next door neighbor and the outcome was so obvious nine months later that both parties got divorced. And maybe Aunt Sally was so angry with Uncle Mario that she found the gun he kept hidden in the attic and…"

"Ok, ok, you make your point," Ranger's grandmother said, "I'm not sure this story is appropriate for little ears."

"My ears aren't little, and this was just starting to get good," Julie said. "You going to tell us more, Uncle Tank?"

"_Uncle_ Tank," I said.

"That's what he told me to call him years ago," she said looking at me ready to pounce if I contradicted her choice of words again.

"Whoa little lady, don't get your…," then I checked my language. I was going to say 'tits in a whirl' but that was inappropriate for a budding thirteen year old. "…self all upset over a couple of words. I didn't mean anything by that. I was just questioning why Tank's an uncle and _I'm_ not," I added, thinking on my feet.

"Oh," she smiled. "You want me to call you _Uncle_ Lester?"

I nodded.

"Ok, _Uncle Lester_," she said smiling at me.

I looked over a Ranger and Steph. They were holding hands and he'd brought their conjoined hands to his face. He was kissing her fingers. Kind of weird if you asked me. This was a _family _gathering, wasn't that a little too intimate? As my eyes stayed with their target I saw him take her index finger into his mouth. I wished I didn't see that.

She shuddered and brought her hand to his upper leg. Like a deer in the headlights I couldn't look away as she stroked his thigh. I forced myself to turn my head once her hand went higher. I didn't want to see her fondling his family jewels.

Thankfully our food arrived at that point although I no longer had much of an appetite.

Ranger's phone rang while we were eating. He looked at the caller ID, touched Stephanie's arm and took the call in the vestibule.

He was gone for maybe five minutes, but when he came back there was a look on his face that said more than words.

He spoke softly to Stephanie, but both Tank and I heard every word.

"Babe, I have to go away for a few weeks. I can't get out of this one. We can take a corporate back to Trenton this afternoon. I'm being picked up at Rangeman in the morning."

"Carlos, it's our wedding night."

"I know Babe. We don't need to work anymore today. I intend to spend the next seven hours showing you just how much I love you. Then Tank's in charge."

"Tank is _not_ in charge of my love life," she said adamantly, tears starting to well in her eyes.

"Steph," I said taking her other hand, "If you need me for anything, I'm here for you."

"Lester, you are such a sleaze," she said looking at me and then not caring that she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "And as much as I appreciate the effort, I am not taking you up on_ that_ one."

"What are you guys talking about?" Julie asked, all ears.

"Julie, I have to go away for a few weeks," Ranger addressed her. "Steph and I are going to head back to Trenton after we drop you off at home and then I'm heading to the middle-east in the morning."

"Are you coming back?" she asked.

"Of course. I can't leave the women I care most about, now can I?"

Carlos' grandmother heard every word then spoke to the table in Spanish. I assumed she knew that Steph and Julie couldn't understand what she was saying.

"El momento no puede ser peor, Carlos. ¿De verdad creo que esto? Espero que no piense en dejar a su nueva novia la viuda? "

"_Your timing couldn't be worse, Carlos. Did you really think this through? I hope you don't plan on leaving your new bride a widow?"_

The conversation continued in Spanish.

"Abuela, que yo no tienen control sobre cuándo o dónde estoy llamado a deber. Yo sólo tengo 2 meses en mi contrato con el gobierno y yo esperaba que no se enviarán de nuevo. No tengo la intención de volver a firmar o dejar Stephanie y Julie. Yo le agradezco su preocupación, pero estaré de vuelta y me pondré en contacto con usted en un par de semanas."

"_Abuela you know I have no control over when or where I'm called to duty. I only have 2-months left on my government contract and I was hoping I wouldn't be shipped out again. I have no intention of re-signing or leaving Stephanie and Julie. I appreciate your concern, but I'll be back and I'll call you in a few weeks."_

"Babe, my grandmother is very concerned about your welfare," he turned and addressed Steph. "And I too would feel so much better if you moved into Rangeman while I'm gone. My men can help coordinate the move. Please?"

Stephanie looked like she didn't know what to say. She looked from Ranger to me, to Tank and then back to Ranger. Finally she put her napkin down on the table and ran towards the bathrooms.

Shit.


	29. Chapter 29

_The Men of Rangeman_

M rating

Thank you once again Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)

This takes place in current time. Books 1 through 19 may be referenced. The people you recognize belong to JE :)

Chapter 29

_**Tank's POV**_

I was hoping for the day to end on a happy note. After all, Ranger and Steph were just married. A lot of us at Rangeman had government contracts and as long as we were under contract we were obligated to fulfill our assignments, no matter how bad the timing. And the timing for this couldn't have sucked more. I suspected their relationship was fragile to begin with and I didn't understand the need for the fast turn of events. But that was Ranger. Once he got an idea in his head, if he felt it was right, he was prepared to follow through on it. I got that.

I gave Steph a few minutes in the bathroom to get herself together before I tilted my head in Ranger's direction and gave him my pursed lipped, 'what are you going to do about this' look.

"Julie, do you want to see how Stephanie is doing?" he asked his daughter.

"I think you should be the one," she said. "If you didn't get that phone call, everyone would be happy right now."

"She's in the _ladies_ room."

"So?"

Ranger excused himself from the table and made his way up the corridor we had so happily walked down, less than an hour before.

"Is there anything I can do?" Mercedes addressed Ranger's grandmother.

She'd been so quiet I forgot for a minute that she was still sitting with us.

"If they don't come back in ten minutes maybe you can head to the ladies room," I said to her, only partially in jest.

"They're outside; I just saw them get into their car," Ranger's abuela replied. "At least he got her out of the bathroom. That seems like a good sign to me."

"I'm going out," Julie said getting up and running towards the front door before either Santos or myself could stop her.

"Let her go," Ranger's grandmother said as I stood. "She loves the two of them. And If they'll let anyone else in right now, it will be Julie."

I nodded in agreement and since there was nothing else I could do at the moment, I went back to eating my lunch.

Santos' phone rang shortly after the lot of us decided that eating was better than sitting around waiting. He looked at his caller ID and smiled.

"Stephanie," he mouthed as he answered the call.

"Hey Beautiful, what's up?"

"Are you sure you and Ranger wouldn't rather be alone?"

"That's true. I'll be right out."

He looked around the table at all the open mouths waiting to hear what Stephanie had to say. After all, we only heard one-side of the conversation.

"She wants me to come to the car. Keep eating. I'll be back in a few," he told us, as he got up and headed towards the front door. Good thing the Cayenne was on the large side.

Mercedes looked at me and winked. "And I see _your_ phone ringing in one, two three…"

Then it did just that.

The caller ID said it was Ranger.

"Yo," I answered. I just listened to what my long-time friend had to say and got up.

"Looks like they've moved the party to the SUV," I said. "Ranger wants me to come out for a minute, then he says we'll all come back inside and finish lunch. I'll be right back."

This was odd behavior if you asked me. Well not any odder than the two of them getting married so quickly in the first place. And I owed it to him to comply with his wishes. I got up and made my way out to the Cayenne.

Ranger and Bomber were sitting in the front. Lester and Julie were in the back. So I opened the rear passenger door and maneuvered my large frame inside, squeezing Julie between Santos and myself.

"Ok, what's going on?" I asked as I tried to fit my size sixteen's comfortably on the floor of the back seat.

"I'm sorry I freaked out," Bomber began. "Ranger hasn't been in the wind in a long time, so I assumed it was over."

"So did I Babe," he added.

"He explained to me that it's a time-consuming but simple mission and that he'll be back in about two to three weeks. In the meantime he wants me to attach my umbilical cord to the two of you."

"That's not physically possible," Lester pointed out, "but I think we understand our job…keep you safe at all costs."

I nodded. This was nothing that I didn't expect from Ranger.

"Santos," Ranger said, addressing him for the first time since I entered his vehicle, "can you be with Steph while she transitions herself back into Trenton? People are going to ask a lot of questions. From the rings on her finger to where I am. I don't want her to have to go through this alone. I know you two are good friends; I'm asking you to be a better one. Can you do this for me, please?"

"No prob boss, but I'm committed down here for the next few days. Governor Christie will have a shit fit if we don't put as many men as possible on this 'Moe' thing. Not that I want to tell you your job, but I think Hector would be the best man in New Jersey. He and Steph are tight. And if anyone says anything negative about her, he'll kill them."

"Yeah that's what I'm afraid of; his affinity runs deep."

"Carlos," Steph said, "I think Les is right, he has a job to complete here and Hector and I _are_ good friends. You won't have to worry about me if Hector is watching over and you can just do your job in Kuwait or wherever it is and come back to me in one piece."

"Ok, I see your point and I agree that after Santos and Tank, Hector would be the next best man to have on board. Let's head back inside and I'll call him after we finish lunch. He really needs to hear this from me."

Santos and I unfolded ourselves from the back seat and then helped Julie down. Steph and Ranger seemed to have gotten a little sidetracked as I caught them in a kiss over the console. That was too uncomfortable a position for them to stay in for too long and this was their party anyway. I knew we'd see them back inside in a minute or two.

"I think we have everything under control," I said as I sat back down in my seat. "And Ranger and Steph should be in in a minute."

"They work it out?" Ranger's abuela asked me. "Looks that way, but ask them; here they come," I said nodding to the door. Ranger and Steph were walking in with their arms around each other and both had smiles on their faces. I could only _imagine_ what he told her.

"I'm sorry everyone," Steph said as they took their seats from earlier. "My emotions have been running high and the news that Carlos had to leave for a few weeks, took its toll on me. I guess I plummeted. I think I'm ok now." She looked around at all the empty plates except for hers and Rangers then added, "Looks like you kept the party going Abuela. Carlos and I need to catch up and then we can order dessert. Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I think there's a cake in the back with white icing and roses."

I was glad she was back to her old self. She called the waiter over and asked him if he could reheat her lunch. "I'm not big on cold chicken, even if it was my fault," she said when the waiter took away her and Ranger's plates for a reheat.

"I need to excuse myself for a few more minutes," Ranger said, obviously taking in the time it would take to nuke their food. "I just have to make two quick calls, excuse me please."

"Hector?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes Babe and NetJets. I want to secure a plane for later this afternoon and I have no intention for us to fly commercial on our honeymoon."

"Honeymoon? I think that's a poor choice of word," Lester said, looking anything but humored by Ranger at the moment.

"Mile high club, Santos. I assume you're already a member."

"Little ears," Ranger's grandmother said looking at her grandson before bringing her hands to Julie's ears in case the conversation deteriorated.

It didn't. But Ranger once again stepped into to vestibule with his phone.

_**Slick's POV**_

Bobby and I were going door to door on the top 'Mo' hits and had already negated three of them when Bobby's phone rang. The call seemed to be from Tank and as hard as I tried to hear both sides of the conversation it was impossible.

"We were about to cross off number three; this Mo is a woman," Bobby told the caller. "Short for Monica. Somehow _she_ got into the mix. She's very cute and was flirting with me, but no beard, so obviously she's not our man."

"Bobby, that Tank?" I asked.

He shushed me while he listened intently to what Tank had to say. I realized Bobby was part of the core team and even though he was my partner today there were things I was never going to be privy to. This seemed to be one of them. Bobby moved away from me and spoke in hushed tones.

"That's just the shit," I overheard before he hung up.

Whatever was 'just the shit' seemed to have put Bobby in a foul mood. Since we had to spend the remainder of the day together I thought I'd try to get him to talk.

"Anything you want to tell me?" I asked him.

"I'd love to get this off my chest, but I can't. Ranger is leaving on another op, Tank's in charge."

That never put him in a foul mood before; in fact usually the opposite was true. Bobby and most of the guys seemed to be more at ease when Tank took the helm.

My phone buzzed in my pocket before I could come up with another angle to get Bobby out of his funk. I looked at the caller ID. It was Michelle.

"Hi Baby," I said answering it.

"I'm finishing up here. It was tough. I saw some of the X-rays and CAT scans; that poor girl has been broken in places I didn't even know we had bones. God. She's got a long road to recovery in front of her, I'm afraid. Where are you?"

"I'm doing a door-to-door with Bobby. Are you still at the hospital?"

"Yeah but I'm with Laura. Detective O'Connor. She can give me a ride to Rangeman if that's better for you. I can introduce myself around."

"And who are you going to say you are?" I asked, feeling like giving her a hard time.

"Your _woman_."

"I like the sound of that. Bobby and I were going to break for lunch soon anyway. I'll pick you up at Rangeman and maybe the three of us can grab some lunch together."

"That would be great and I'd _love_ to meet Bobby."

"Ok let me ask him. See you at Rangeman in about a half an hour?"

"Ok. Love you."

"I love you too Baby," I said then disconnected.

"I can't believe those words came out of _your_ mouth Slick," Bobby said, grinning at me.

"Yeah, sometimes I can't either. Want to meet her? Come and have lunch with us."

"I wouldn't miss that for the world. Tank says she has advanced firearms accreditations."

"_What?"_

"Sorry. I thought you knew. Rangeman ran a search on her."

"Yeah, I figured you did. But tell me about those _firearms_."

"Maybe you should ask _her_. We assumed it was because her father and uncle are who they are that she felt she needed it. Yeah she's got training on an M16A2, a Saiga 12 and a 9mm sub among others. Looks like she really knows her shit when it comes to guns."

I stood there just looking at him. "_My_ Michelle?"

"Sorry man, I thought you knew."

"Well I think this lunch is going to be more interesting than I expected it to be."

_**Bobby's POV**_

Shit. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. If they got into a fight over this, it was going to be my fault. But then how would I have known she didn't tell him about her gun experience? And Junior kiddingly said it was the way she held the gun when they picked up the kid that _really_ turned Slick on. Yeah of course it would've.

Well there was nothing I could do about it now.

"You sure you still want to do lunch? Maybe you and Michelle need to talk."

"Michelle and I can talk later. Obviously there's a reason she hasn't told me. But if you bring it up at lunch, it'll be interesting to see what she says."

"I'm _not_ going to be your moderator. This is something for the two of you to talk about on your own. You can tell her I told you, but I don't think this is a topic for lunch. In fact I don't know if lunch is such a good idea now anyway…you're kind of loaded."

"Sorry that was a really shitty thing for me to say. Let's step back a few minutes and pretend this conversation didn't happen. Would you like to have lunch and meet Michelle?"

"No gun talk?"

"No gun talk."

"Sure."

We got into our Rangeman SUV and I drove us back to our Miami headquarters. I parked in the garage and we took the elevator up to one. Unlike Trenton, there were no stairs to or from the garage level, but there were stairs between floors. Go figure that one.

As soon as we came through the doors, Lynn smiled at Slick.

"Met your girlfriend. She's in with Ernesto right now."

"Thanks Lynn," he responded and we made our way towards the office of our Miami's second in command.

"Knock, knock," I faux-knocked on Ernesto's door.

Michelle turned around and her face lit up as soon as she saw Slick. Looked like they both had it bad.

"Shaun," she said getting up and walking towards us. She kissed Slick and then put her hand out to me.

"Bobby? Hi I'm Michelle Lore, um…Shaun's friend. I mean…um, Slick's friend."

"Woman. Baby, you said you were going to tell everyone you were my woman."

"Ok. I'm Shaun's_ woman_. Oh that sounds so weird."

"It sure does," I said. "I forget he had a name besides _Slick_."

At least that broke the ice.


End file.
